Cries of the Planet
by Guitarconspiracy
Summary: *UPDATE (2/12/13)* All caught up with the previous chapters of my Final Fantasy VII extended edition novelization! Posting will slow down a bit now (I'm guessing to around once a week). I hope that everyone's enjoying it! About 115 more chapters to post, and I've got a headstart on about 15 of the 115, lol. Daunting...
1. 1-1 The Opening Bombing Mission

Cries of the Planet

Volume 1

INTO THE METROPOLIS

Part 1

A FLOATING CITY

_Just as he reached the door, Tifa whispered, "You forgot the promise, too."_

_He slowly turned around, a puzzled look on his tired face. "Promise?"_

"_So you did forget. . ."_

1. The Opening Bombing Mission

1

It was a dark and starless night in Midgar, the largest city on the Planet. The eight reactors that surrounded the city coughed out large clouds of smoke that erratically swirled up towards the obsidian-black sky above. Beyond the sky of the Planet there was the even greater darkness of space, a mysterious and unexplored dimension that housed powers that could doom as well as save the Planet and its inhabitants.

_But who would want to save a doomed species like humans anyways?_

Shaking these morbid thoughts from his throbbing head, Cloud Strife looked around the dim, obscure train car at his company. He was the only outsider of the group, a lone mercenary ready to do anything that would guarantee him the steep price he had demanded while signing up for the perilous mission ahead of him.

Cloud sat still and observed the others, deciphering everything he needed to know by the posture, expressions, and other such nuances of the rebel team.

They were motionless, yet calm. Quiet, yet determined. Anxious – prepared – stoic - and didn't appear to be the least bit frightened about the overwhelming mission that was only minutes away from them.

This was the team known as AVALANCHE. Loved by some, hated by many, many more. They were the 'Protectors of the Planet', as Cloud quickly learned from their hulking leader. Cloud might not have been able to count on his fingers how many times this awe-inspiring concept had been vigorously explained to him.

The blistering sun was way beyond the murky Cardian Mountains that Cloud could see every time that the train trudged through the southeastern section of the spherical metropolis.

He knew what was beyond those mountains; in fact, he knew many of the places spread out across the colossal - although certainly not measureless - Planet that he lived on. He also knew that many of those towns and cities were better places to be than this immoral city.

_Everything started to shatter . . . right . . . here . . ._ he thought, looking at the towering structures, remembering the beginning of what had almost led to his inevitable end.

He turned away and closed his eyes, trying to will the pain in his head to subside for just a moment or two.

After a shallow breath he glanced down at the bruises and cuts on his arms, no longer fresh, but still at that painfully irritating stage of the healing process.

He couldn't quite remember how he had gotten these newest of injuries, but with the life he lived it didn't surprise him that they were there. In his twenty one short years of life he had done a lot of fighting, in a lot of different places.

Currently he was on the easternmost continent of the Planet, on a train that was going fast enough to produce that unfunny feeling in his stomach. The spiraling motion was doing a superb job of aggravating the ache within his head as well.

_Focus . . . focus,_ Cloud thought when he realized he had been letting his weary mind drift for too long. This was a life or death sort of mission he was on. He needed to be alert.

The train circled around the vast city, climbing higher and higher by the second, taking the team up to the floor of the city, known to the Midgar citizens as the 'plate'.

The mercenary felt the intense warmth of the slums beneath the plate slowly fading away as they climbed. This wasn't an enjoyably tropical warmth, like the weather you'd find down south in a place like Mideel. It was a hazardous, pollution-filled heat. A heat that grabbed a vice-like hold onto your lungs.

As the piles of garbage disappeared and the giant towers and buildings of the city came into view he thought again about why he was here with this rebel group.

The main reason was that he was broke. Easy enough to figure out.

He allowed himself a soundless chuckle at the thought. Growing up in the upper-middle class town of Nibelheim he had always had money.

Yet now . . . broke.

And not the kind of broke that leaves you with some or even a little gil, but the kind of broke that leaves you with none at all.

_From riches to rags,_ he thought, again allowing a silent snigger to escape. It sounded like the tagline of some cheesy play that would be shown in the seedier parts of the towering city he was about to enter.

So yes, money, that was the main reason he was here. He had no gil and the leader of AVALANCHE agreed that he would pay him if they succeeded in the mission. Cloud had asked for a fair sum of money too, but then again it wasn't your typical walk-in-the-park sort of mission.

He cursed himself for having to depend on someone other than himself for the time period. But that was the hardship of living the life of a mercenary.

Besides . . . he was doing this for her as well, because she had asked him and he had always found it so hard to say 'no' to her.

_Tifa._

When he pictured her face inside of his head the constant throb he'd been enduring ceased. This reprieve was short-lived however, as the pulse came galloping back as the train took a sharp turn.

Cloud covered his hand to his mouth and coughed. He had forgotten what it felt like to breathe in Midgar, although the air up here was preferable to the air below.

And it wasn't just the air that you were forced to endure; it was every factor of existence. It was the pollution rapidly making its way into your lungs, the smog and dust of the Mako reactors stinging your eyes, tickling your nose, the sound of the crowds and the traffic filling your ears with such an intense volume of noise that you felt you would go deaf before your body adjusted. It was madness, structure and chaos meeting at the same intersection.

He hadn't been here since he was fourteen. Now, seven years later, he was fully grown at a slightly above-average height, a head taller than the Cloud of the past. He was skinny, but in a well-built sort of way. His dirty blonde hair was untamable and usually ended up looking rather spiky, which was okay, for it looked good on him. His complexion as of now was fair, but he seemed to remember himself getting tan during the warmer summer months.

Trying to think of a time when he'd been out in the sun just for the hell of it sent his head spinning in different directions.

Shaking his head he looked down at himself. He wore his old SOLDIER uniform and a pair of black boots, for they were the only items of clothing that he had. On his back he carried a massive Buster sword, a weapon he was well-trained with. The blade was extra wide, perfect for maximum damage.

Cloud's eyes were his most enigmatic yet stunning feature. He captured everyone's attention with those blue-green eyes, which glowed endlessly whenever they were uncovered by his eyelids.

The train's speed started to give away, indicating to everyone that it was almost time for action.

Although vaguely clued in about what his part would be, Cloud knew that the mission must have been vitally important to this rebel group. Anyone to go against the Shinra nowadays was either an extremist with a really precise, triple-checked plan, or the exact opposite: a fool with a death wish.

Having once worked for Shinra, Cloud knew that this mission wasn't going to be clear-cut. Going up against the largest company - in fact, the only major company - on the Planet would not be an effortless task.

The reasons why did not concern him though. This was for gil. This was for her.

As the train came to a complete stop at the station, smoke billowing out from the brakes, the leader of the group silently started directing the members to the door. He did this with a simple waving of his large, brown finger.

A streetlight outside of the window blazed noticeably brighter than the broken down streetlights Cloud had seen below in the slums. Its yellowish shine tore a circle of light into the shadowy ground outside of the train.

Cloud took a quick look at the team that he was going to be working with, perhaps dying with. He hadn't bothered taking time to learn their names; he hadn't really even talked to any of them except for their fearless leader, Barret Wallace.

This was a man to be reckoned with. Barret had dark skin, which Cloud had seen before but mostly back on the western continent, and looked to be in his mid-thirties. He still had the body and muscle structure of a young body-builder, his veins always showing, his tight shirts always on the verge of ripping open. If anyone was going to put up a good fight against the dominating force that was Shinra Inc., it was going to be him. His dark hair and even darker eyes, along with his snarled, black beard gave him a mean and gritty look.

But this was not the main reason Cloud believed that Barret would put up a good fight against the Shinra. It also was not even the fact that Barret was an immense six foot six inches in height.

_His massiveness sure will help though. _

What convinced Cloud that this huge, brown man could fight the Shinra and have a realistic chance at surviving was the dedication his team showed him - along with the strange and peculiar fact that this man did not have a right arm. What replaced the arm was a large machine gun with ample space for storing ammunition.

This gun was not just sitting over his missing appendage; it was replacing it, completely grafted into what was left of Barret's muscular upper arm.

Cloud didn't ask the AVALANCHE leader how he had lost his arm; it didn't seem like the sort of thing you asked someone like Barret. As beneficial as the gunarm was he supposed he truly didn't care anyways. He wasn't here to make friends or to swap stories.

The other three looked to be in their early twenties, around the same age as Cloud. They were also not as tall or as strong as Barret, but they each looked like they had a fighting edge to them.

They were lined up exactly how Barret had instructed them, and in a tense time like the situation that they were now in, that showed loyalty to their leader. None looked the least bit panicked or even distraught over the fact that a five-piece rebel group was going to be assaulting a twenty thousand man army.

Perhaps it was because of the strategic planning Barret had done that they weren't as scared as they should have been. Or maybe it was because they knew about the new recruit, Cloud Strife. Barret may have informed them that Cloud was a former employee of Shinra, and that he was formerly a First Class fighter in Shinra's elite military force known as SOLDIER, something that only the best-of-the-best could achieve.

But perhaps not, perhaps they were all just foolish and death would be greeting each of them in mere seconds. Either way, the time was now.

2

Barret Wallace could see how badly he scared the puny newcomer when the train stopped and he hollered, "MOVE!"

Soon he was watching Biggs break down the door while Wedge jumped through it. Jessie quickly followed, although she appeared to have a split second of regret before she jumped as well.

Barret made a mental note of this, and then grabbed Cloud and threw him out before Biggs and himself jumped out as well.

The only light was the hazy, yellow glow coming from the streetlight. It was colder here in the city than it was in the slums but certainly not chilly. The silence they had sat through on the train was now long gone, perhaps never to return if everything tonight went as planned.

He watched Cloud get to his feet and then looked to his right just in time to see Jessie take down a security guard in one hit, crushing his face with her fist. To his left another guard approached him but was also quickly taken down by Wedge.

Then the fun began.

A foolish Shinra guard tried to tackle him from behind. Barret would have pitied him, but decided it was more appropriate to just shatter the man's arm. After all, he _was_ associated with Shinra.

After he had disposed of the guard he looked up and saw another blue-clad guard running towards Cloud.

For a moment he considered shouting a warning to the mercenary, but thought twice about it. Perhaps he'd wait and see how Cloud, who seemed to just oh-so-proudly announce himself as a former member of SOLDIER, acted towards his old colleagues.

3

For a second or two, Cloud found himself lost in the sights all around him. He hadn't been in a serious fight in a long time.

This thought didn't make sense however, looking down at his injured arms.

He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head again, an action he was quickly turning into a habit. The ache subsided some, but not enough to his liking.

Reality hit him hard when he felt a blow to his lower back. Morphing immediately into fight-mode he placed his left foot down hard to pivot, and while in turning motion took out his giant Buster sword and drove it directly into the neck of the attacking guard.

Another guard came running to his right, and seeing him in his peripherals, Cloud quickly spun and chopped the man down before he knew it was coming.

The area was warm and the adrenaline was flowing. It almost felt surreal how chaotic everything had gotten within the seconds they had been off of the train.

_Hell, milliseconds._

While wiping the blood from his sword onto the blue uniform of one of the downed guards Cloud glanced around at the bleak surroundings of Midgar. He remembered a time when he used to admire the city and marveled at its amazing structures and buildings, it's well-planned out design of the Mako reactors on its circular border, and the fact that the whole thing was built on top of the 'plate'. He remembered how excited he was to first enter the city looking for work as a kid.

Now as he looked around all he saw was filth.

Shinra filth.

Smoke rose from the top of almost every building providing a cloudy sky every night of the year for the inhabitants. The streets were filled with garbage and beggars. If you were not employed by Shinra you did not live within the city, you lived down below in the slums.

Ninety seven percent of the Planet's economy flowed in and out of Midgar, yet more than seventy five percent of the people in the city were homeless and lived below the plate.

This same plate never allowed the citizens in the sectored slums below to see the open sky. It was a permanent dull-gray roof that didn't allow the satisfaction of a beautiful sunrise.

When the designers set to work to build the city of Midgar one thousand feet above the ground they never bothered to consider what it was going to be like living underneath the plate, to never see sky unless you came up top to the city, where you would be forced to endure everything Shinra.

The headquarters of the Shinra, an astonishing seventy story building that sat in the exact middle of the city, was in clear sight from Cloud.

_From the seventieth floor I bet you could determine every person who does and doesn't work for the Shinra,_ he thought.

He wiped the blood from the other end of his sword onto the dead man in front of him.

His company, excluding Barret Wallace, was silently grinning, realizing that they had made a good choice bringing him along.

Still showing no emotion or concern for any of them Cloud quickly put his sword away and turned toward Barret, waiting for their next move.

4

"Let's move to the entrance," Barret yelled as he loaded his gunarm. The others ran down a narrow sidewalk and quickly entered the area where the guards had run out from. Cloud followed, with Barret close behind him.

When they turned the corner, Barret saw Cloud looking at the streets with disgust. The observation couldn't last long however, for they had already caught up with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. They were decoding the password to a giant steel door that sat between them and the Mako reactor.

Without a password the door looked impenetrable, unless you happened to have a decent sized bomb or perhaps a rocket launcher handy.

Barret glanced down at his gunarm and smiled at the thought of it being able to fire rockets.

They all felt like they were being watched, and they probably were. But the AVALANCHE members knew that everything had to be risked in order to save their slowly but surely dying Planet. They were willing to risk everything, including their lives.

_I'm more willin' than most . . . considerin' the damage they've inflicted on my past,_ he thought, staring once again at the mechanism grafted into his arm.

It had been four years since the initial incident, but the memory hadn't softened in time.

It had solidified.

Barret suddenly snapped out of his momentary daze, recognizing now what he was observing. "Biggs, Wedge! I thought I told you two to split up and keep an eye out for more of those Shinra punks. Only Jessie needs to open the goddamn door!" He furiously stomped the ground, looked up at the sky, and then ran back to check for more guards.

5

Wedge looked curiously at Cloud, not with dissatisfaction but with a peculiar approval. "What's your name?" He didn't look straight at Cloud but after a few seconds of silence he looked at him and again asked, "What's your name?"

Cloud sternly looked at him and flatly said, "I'm Cloud, ex-SOLDIER, First Class." He wasn't quite sure why he had added this. Perhaps it was just the surroundings that had brought it out in him. Besides, he didn't really want to be talking to this guy anyways.

Jessie glanced up from the door for a second and asked, "SOLDIER, aren't they the enemy?" She quickly went back to work decoding the door, assuming someone would respond to her inquiry.

Biggs, a much larger and rounder man then Wedge, quickly responded, "Whoa . . . Whoa! Ex-SOLDIER, Jessie. Cloud works for AVALANCHE now." He smiled at Cloud, his face looking quite jolly. "Anyway, my name is . . ."

"I don't care about your names," Cloud interrupted. "Once the mission is over I'm collecting my gil and I'm leaving." He turned his back to the three, anxiously waiting for the door to open.

Biggs, not normally an instigator, said, "Gil, huh?" He looked over Cloud again, wondering if bringing someone who didn't care about the Planet would help the team in the end. "What's with the attitude? You signed up, didn't you?"

Cloud only stared back at the large man.

When Biggs looked like he was about to open his mouth again, Wedge quickly grabbed his arm. When Biggs turned to him, Wedge merely shook his head.

Watching this exchange, Cloud could've restarted the quarrel if he had wanted to, but decided that they weren't worth it.

He had been hired because these lackeys were one step down from good-for-nothings.

"Jessie Bugle strikes again!"

Cloud looked away from the men and saw that a bright green light was now radiating off of the small gray box the woman, Jessie, had been furiously typing into. Soon the massive door slid open with a grumbling squeal of metal on metal.

The woman gave him a glance that he couldn't puzzle out, and then said, "I'm sure after all the training you've been through you probably think we're worthless. But it won't take long for you to figure out just how wrong you are."

Cloud yet again refrained from speaking. He didn't care what these people were good or bad at. He just didn't want to associate himself with them.

_Is that so hard to understand?_

Going against his better judgment he said, "It doesn't matter what I do or don't think about you lot. My only priority is to make sure this mission goes underway as smoothly as possible. Then I'll be taking my reward and splitting."

"Yeah . . ." Wedge said. "We heard it all before."

"If you understand than why are you still talking to me?" Cloud mumbled, turning away from them.

Biggs turned to Wedge. "I can't believe Barret actually thought this punk was going to be of any help to AVALANCHE."

Cloud winced, feeling the throb in his head strengthen, and wondered if perhaps he was being a little harsh. Maybe for the mission to go as smoothly as possible it meant that he had to get along with these lackeys . . . for the meantime.

"He's just an arrogant son of a . . ." Wedge was saying.

Cloud cut him off. "Listen . . . I'm sorry. I don't feel well and haven't talked with anyone outside of the Shinra in a long time."

Biggs, his face transitioning speedily from a grimace to a smirk, said, "You're sorry, are you?" He paused and took a breath. "That's okay. I guess . . ."

Before he could continue, Cloud said, "I still don't want to be friends, okay? I just want to get on with the mission." Once again he turned away from the group, leaving them perplexed.

6

Barret came rushing back, having heard the sound of the door grinding open.

"Move! Move!" he yelled, not wasting any time for more guards to come. The first three started running but as Cloud started to move forward Barret grabbed his shoulder. "This is it, no turning back now." Cloud, barely acknowledging him, nodded his head and then ran towards the others.

Barret felt warm fury already building up inside of him. He wouldn't be certain that hiring Cloud Strife had been a good idea until the mission was over and they were all safely back in their Sector 7 hideout.

Before he went through the door after his team he looked up at the huge Mako reactor that he was about to enter. It looked to be about thirty stories high and a few city blocks long. Seeing this made him realize just how big the explosion was going to be.

The reactor itself was more or less a huge cylinder made of metal with a giant painting of a number '1' on it. The outside looked plain and simple. It was the inside that Cloud said was going to be the eye-opener.

As he watched Cloud disappear into the reactor he whispered to himself, "Ex-SOLDIER, huh . . . still don't trust ya." He ran on ahead into the reactor, which in his mind had about thirty minutes left until its destruction.

7

When Cloud ran into the reactor, although it certainly wasn't his first time in one, he was just as amazed as he had been that first time so long ago.

From the entrance, the hall led you to a narrow walkway. This walkway was also a T-shaped bridge that took you from one side of the parameter of the reactor to the other, as well as straight into the reactor itself. What amazed Cloud every time was the fact that under the bridge there was nothing for about a thousand feet until you reached the ground of the slums. Nowhere else in Midgar, save for the unfinished ending of the highway that led to the edge of the city, was there such a direct drop to the Planet's floor.

While he ran to catch up with the group he couldn't help but look over the edge from time to time to view the houses, which looked quite similar to the banged-up toy-houses he used to play with as a child in Nibelheim.

"I'll secure the exit," Biggs informed as he veered off course from the rest of the team. As Biggs ran on straight to the exit, Wedge and Jessie took a sharp right onto a connecting bridge. From there they ran straight into the heart of the reactor.

As Cloud ran further and further into the reactor he could feel the air around him warming up. And not only that, but like all of the other times he'd been in a reactor, he could somehow _feel_ the Mako energy within the reactor.

As he passed through into the next room he saw Wedge and Jessie hard at work again decoding the password to a door that was similar to the one that they had come upon at the entrance.

He would've liked to have taken this moment to dwell a bit on his headache, but Barret arrived huffing and puffing, and then turned to face Cloud. "Yo! This your first time in this reactor?" he asked while still catching his breath, his large hands placed firmly on his knees.

"Yeah . . . but they all look the same on the inside anyways," Cloud quickly shot at him before attempting to turn his back on the gunarmed man.

Barret glared at him and Cloud could tell that the man was convinced that he needed to explain the situation. "The Planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it every day." Cloud showed no movement and made no remark so Barret continued. "It's the life blood of the Planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with these goddamn machines."

"I'm not here for a lecture, so let's just get going."

Barret glared even harder at him until he turned away.

"Don't be such a stuck-up bastard," Barret yelled. "You wouldn't be acting all tough if Tifa was here with us."

Before Cloud could respond they all heard the door open. Wedge, although pleased that the decoder worked, also seemed somewhat saddened by it, as if a terrible memory had just been recollected.

As they ran through the doors, Barret now pacing along the side of Cloud, Wedge explained his sudden sadness. "It's amazing to think about how much went into getting these simple codes. Just think about how many people seriously risked their lives or died just to get them for AVALANCHE." They then reached the elevator that they had been searching for. "I'll secure this area. You guys just make sure that you come back safe." He nodded at Barret and Jessie and they both returned the nod. Wedge glanced at Cloud with uncertainty and then gave him a slight nod as well.

Cloud, Barret, and Jessie then got onto the elevator and watched the metal doors close, cutting off their view of Wedge. He already appeared to be anxious for their return.

8

Jessie pushed the red 'down' button and stood by while Barret and Cloud shared some words.

She didn't know how she felt about the newcomer. He had been an asshole so far. But he _had_ tried to explain himself with a strange little apology. She didn't know too many men who apologized for their actions.

He seemed cold but there was something strange about the whole ordeal. Sure, they needed his help . . . but what was the situation between him and Tifa?

And he _was_ acting rather odd, wasn't he?

_Except for the few moments he was fighting,_ she thought.

She had stolen a few casual glances in his direction ever since Tifa had introduced him to the group a week ago. Jessie had stolen those glances because Cloud was very cute, there was no way around it. What with his spiky hair, chiseled body, and those piercing eyes.

But the glances had also been made because she realized that there was definitely something wrong with Cloud. He seemed to almost always be holding his head. And from what Tifa had said, he couldn't remember where he had gotten all those cuts and bruises on his arms.

Hearing that he was an ex-member of SOLDIER had been a shock, but he couldn't be the only one on the Planet to have been treated poorly by the Shinra.

Even now, as she watched Barret try to force eye contact with the mercenary, she realized that under the harsh outer shell that Cloud wore there was something crumbling underneath.

Maybe that's why she hadn't let Cloud's actions bother her so much.

_And besides, if Barret trusted Tifa's judgment enough to hire him for that substantial amount of gil, he had to at least know what he was doing reactor-wise._

Jessie looked from Cloud to Barret and knew that the short-lived silence in the elevator car was about to be broken.

9

Barret, still convinced he should be explaining the situation to Cloud, said, "Little by little the reactors'll drain out all the life . . . the Planet's life. And that'll be that. Goodbye. It's been fun. Have a nice day."

Still showing no concern or emotion, Cloud said, "It's not my problem."

Barret shook his head. "Of course it's your problem, ya jackass! When the Planet dies . . . we all die."

Holding his head, Cloud responded, "I don't care about the Planet . . ."

"The Planet's dyin', Cloud!" Barret thundered, the sound bouncing off of the metal walls.

Cloud finally let go of his head and replied, "The only thing I care about is finishin' the damn job before security gets here." He again turned away from Barret to avoid more of the seemingly agonizing conversation.

Barret clenched his fist so tight he could feel his fingernails about to break through the skin on his palm. He wanted nothing more than to slam this spiky, white boy's head into the elevator wall.

_No,_ he thought, and took a quick breath. _No matter how much of a punk he is, we need him. And Tifa trusts him . . . that counts for something._

10

After descending down a few hundred feet the elevator door slowly slid open. Warm air rushed in on them and took any chill out of their bodies that might still have been there.

As they stepped out of the elevator two Shinra guards positioned nearby immediately knew that these outsiders were not welcome and charged them. Without making the slightest effort Barret raised his gunarm and fired a good second or two of carnage at them.

Cloud knew then that his assumptions about Barret had been correct.

Watching the lifeless bodies accumulate their own blood pools he could see that Barret felt no remorse or pity whatsoever.

"Shinra scum!" the hulking man yelled as he walked by the soldiers' remains.

Surprised that these were the only guards, the group continued on cautiously. They rushed down two flights of stairs before Jessie said, "Almost there, right?"

Cloud looked around and nodded. "Yeah . . . almost there."

The intense sound of the machines sucking up Mako filled the reactor, echoing back and forth off of the walls.

Being that this wasn't an area that was normally occupied by staff there was minimal lighting. The soft lights along with the pool of Mako down at the bottom of this section of the reactor gave the room an eerie jade tint that seemed even to turn their shadows into dark green hues.

As they passed through yet another door the air again felt warmer. Cloud felt dizzy for a moment. He blinked his eyes a few times and took a deep breath, shaking off the woozy feeling that was slowly overcoming him.

11

Biggs was beginning to get antsy.

He really hadn't been waiting that long he supposed, but he was worried about the others.

_That newcomer, Cloud . . . he was a piece of work._

Biggs wouldn't have been surprised if he found out later that Barret had shot Cloud by now, ridding them of the uncaring and arrogant bastard.

"I know he's a good fighter, and he knows his way around," Biggs said aloud, "but he's got a real personality problem."

_And perhaps a mental problem as well. Maybe that's why he's always clutching his head._

Before he could dwell on those thoughts even further he heard footsteps approaching behind him.

Biggs turned around and found he was face-to-face with three Shinra guards.

12

The trio had soon reached a ladder. Looking down they noticed that from where they were standing they could see their destination, the very heart of the reactor.

Looking past their destination Cloud could see down to the emerald abyss, where the reactor sucked out the Mako substance.

Jessie stood next to the ladder but did not use it. She stepped aside and said, "Alright, this is it. I'll secure the ladder. Good luck."

Cloud and Barret carefully climbed down the ladder and made their way to the reactor's core. The titanic machine looked like a huge mechanical ventricle, except that it was not blood that this was storing, it was Mako. The 'life blood' of the Planet as he'd heard Barret say over and over again.

Cloud gazed up at the amazing charcoal-colored tubes that carried the Mako out of the core. These worm-like hoses stretched out high towards the distant ceiling and then disappeared into other chambers that were located inside other areas of the reactor. There the poisonous Mako material was treated, making it as proficient as possible.

_Technology this sophisticated could be used for so many better things than this,_ Cloud thought, knowing that despite his feigned ignorance, he knew the dangers of the extraction of Mako as well.

"There's gonna be nothing left when we blow this up. Nothin' at all but a hunk of junk," Barret blissfully shouted.

Cloud gazed around. "It's going to have to be a pretty big explosion," he said as he watched Barret take out a smaller-than-expected device from his pack.

"Don't you worry a damn 'bout the explosion," Barret said. "If Jessie knows what she's talking about - and she does, she learned it from her old man - then this explosion will be plenty big."

Still looking at the brick-sized bomb, Cloud shrugged. "If you say so . . ."

"I do say so . . ." Barret said, more firmly. "Now Cloud, you set the bomb."

Confused, Cloud looked at him. "Shouldn't you do it?"

"Just do it! I've gotta watch and make sure you don't pull nothin' to jeopardize AVALANCHE!"

"Fine." Cloud moved with the bomb toward the giant ventricle-like mechanism. He suddenly froze, the dizziness he had felt earlier suddenly became overwhelming, and not his sight, but his mind went blank, blacking out the scenery around him while simultaneously turning everything a bright and overpowering white.

Not realizing what was happening he suddenly heard a voice inside of his head. _"Careful! You know that this isn't just a reactor."_ The voice was foreign yet familiar.

He blinked and shook his head, looking around at the reactor as it focused back into view.

_What the hell was that about?_

After the few words had been said the invasion of his mind had ended abruptly and everything was normal again.

Barret was not pleased. ". . . What's wrong!?" he shouted, having not noticed that something had happened to Cloud.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry up and set the damn bomb!" Barret yelled, physically tensing up.

"Yeah, sorry," Cloud said as he began to set the explosive device. It was a simple process of connecting a few wires (green into black, blue into yellow, white into red) and in a few seconds he was done.

It had gone smoothly enough, and it seemed that even his headache had dissolved into a low pulse.

He was slowly backing away from the bomb when he heard an alarm sound. The wail of the alarm made him forget all about the strange voice inside of his head.

The only thing he could think about now was the trepidation rising up inside of his body. He knew that they only had ten minutes until the bomb went off and that the reactor's security would be on its way. The guards that would be coming would do their best to slow Barret and him down, most certainly risking their own lives in the process.

He looked over at Barret and shouted, "They're coming!"

"No shit!" But as much as Barret would've liked to yell and scream at Cloud, he was smart enough to realize the danger they were in and started to load his gunarm.

Within seconds a giant machine came charging at them. It was approximately thirteen feet in height, a massive emotionless fighter, built and designed with one objective: Eliminating intruders.

13

Biggs had done well against the first guard, ducking under a blow and tackling the man to the floor of the bridge, but when the other two guards grabbed him by his arms he began to panic.

He thrashed hard to his left, almost loosening his shoulder from its socket.

The guard on his left drove a bulky fist into Biggs' stomach.

Feeling the air flood out of him he wheezed, "Get off!"

"Shut your fat mouth!" one of the guards yelled before sucker-punching him in the back of the head.

The one he had tackled slowly stood up from the floor. He spat in Biggs' face. "What are you and those other rebels doing inside the reactor?"

Biggs smiled. "We're here to redecorate. We heard that you guys had finally started considering the aesthetic value of things. And it's about time . . ."

The guard allowed Biggs to smile a moment longer, and then sent his foot into the extensive gut that hung just below Biggs' wine-red belt.

Biggs coughed, feeling nauseous and in significant pain. His stomach had always been sensitive.

The guard grabbed him by the chin. "What are you bastards up to?"

"Screw you . . ." Biggs whispered.

The guard clenched his face. But in the moment he took to wind his arm Biggs slammed his large foot down onto the guard's smaller foot.

Feeling one of his arms freed he threw his weight sideways, the momentum sending the second guard over the railing.

Turning quick he slammed a forearm into the head of the guard that was slowly getting to his feet.

He then heard the recognizable sound of a sword being unsheathed.

Faster than he thought he could move he reached into his boot, pulled out the spare knife he kept strapped there, and side-armed the blade at the guard, hitting him in the stomach.

As the guard shouted and reached for the blade Biggs ran over and kicked the blade deeper into the guard's stomach, before slamming his considerably large fist into the masked face.

"Alright, Barret," Biggs said aloud, "it's time to haul ass . . ." He then began to move the two bodies out of the main path of the bridge.

14

It was one of Shinra's many weapons that they used against their enemies. This one was designed to resemble a giant red scorpion, the metallic body painted a deep red, it's hazardous and multiple appendages painted black.

While still pulling his sword out, the machine charged Cloud and threw him against the warm, glowing wall with ease.

The headache might have been gone but now a physical pain was ringing through his head.

Barret opened fire on the machine, screaming a wide variety of profanities that only someone like Barret Wallace could pull off.

"Goddamn shitty bug-rusting bitch!"

The giant scorpion caught him by surprise when it blew fire out of its mouth and scorched him. He stopped firing and ran for cover from the flames and quickly began to load his gunarm with more heavy duty artillery.

By now Cloud was up, sword in hand. He could hear Barret shouting to himself.

"Bug gonna die! Shitty-ass bug gonna die!"

Cloud ignored this, and knew the plan that had suddenly come to him had to be done immediately. There was no time to let Barret know what he was doing.

He raced at the machine and quickly dove between its legs. Using his sword he powerfully swung at one of the hind legs. The swing completely took off the leg and brought the machine down to its back, sparks shooting out from where the leg had recently been attached.

Barret heard the huge crash and reluctantly came out to make sure that Cloud was okay.

"Cloud, what in the goddamn hell are you doing?"

Cloud was dodging the machine's swinging arms now, trying to make his way to the thrashing head. The scorpion's right arm knocked Cloud off his feet and onto the ground.

Barret, seeing his chance, opened fire again. Cloud quickly crawled like a snake to the robotic head, avoiding the machine and the gunfire on his way. He cursed Barret's incompetence. Couldn't he see that he had a plan?

Still firing away, Barret screamed, "Take that you giant bitch of a bug!"

Cloud finally yelled, "Barret! Stop firing! Barret, you psycho, you're gonna kill me!"

Barret, not sure why Cloud wanted him to stop, reluctantly did. "You best know what you doin', white boy!"

Knowing that he was now out of harm's way, Cloud stood up, raised the sword high over his head, and took a mighty swing at the writhing machine's neck. The force of the blow decapitated the head from the body and quickly retarded all of the other functions of the scorpion machine.

Not wasting any of the precious time that they had left, Barret shouted, "Let's get out of here, we've only got about five minutes until the bang of the century happens!"

He would never admit it, but the decapitation of the scorpion machine had truly impressed him.

This thought evaporated quickly as the machine's mainframe exploded, almost sending Barret over the edge of the walkway.

It pained him to see that Cloud had grabbed his arm, saving him from a fall into the Mako below.

"Goddamn . . ." Barret murmured. "Cloud, you . . ."

"No time!" Cloud said.

Nodding, Barret hopped over the scorpion carcass and joined Cloud in a frantic run to the ladder.

15

Jessie couldn't believe what she was seeing. Not only had a giant machine resembling a scorpion come out of nowhere, she had seen Cloud efficiently take care of it, and to top it off, save Barret from certain death after the machine had exploded.

She would definitely have to rethink her opinion of Cloud now.

The time for thinking was not available to her now however, for now she saw that guards had come out of a hidden entrance below and were chasing Barret and the newcomer.

Her only thought now was to scream.

16

Wiping the sweat from their hands onto their pants they called up to Jessie to get out.

But as Cloud looked up to see if the woman had heard he saw her pointing behind them.

"More guards!" she screamed. "Behind you!"

Flying up the ladder without looking back they heard the heavy footsteps of the approaching guards behind them and knew that they were now running for a number of reasons.

Barret reached the top of the ladder, faced down, and fired his gunarm at the guards who were climbing after them. Although perhaps only hitting one, the rest were then hit with the immobile, lifeless body of the dead guard. The other guards fell down the ladder, giving Cloud and Barret plenty of time to get away from them and make their way to the stairs.

With Jessie in sight they ran through the door and up the two flights of stairs with remarkable swiftness.

They saw Jessie struggling with a guard near the elevator when they reached the top. Barret yelled, "Get the hell down!" When Jessie dropped he opened fire on the guard, soaking the surrounding area with human remains.

They hopped into the elevator. While it was slowly going up they caught their breaths. Wanting badly to ask what Barret had thought about Cloud's prompt rescue, Jessie looked at Barret. But before she could say anything the doors opened and they were greeted by Wedge.

Not spending time to ask them about what had happened or if they were hurt, he started running towards the exit.

Out of breath, and lacking the energy to run any faster, Cloud stopped for a second. Jessie also stopped and quickly asked, "You alright?"

Cloud, actually appreciating the question, knew that this was not the time for answers. "Let's go!" he shouted as he grabbed her arm and ran.

He couldn't understand why he felt the way he did right now. He never used to get so tired so quickly.

_Maybe I really was in some sort of fight recently. I feel so damn weak . . ._

With about a minute left before the bomb would detonate they quickly raced through the doors and down the numerous hallways until they finally saw Biggs still standing at the exit. A few bodies were lying in the area.

_He must have been attacked too,_ Cloud quickly thought.

Just as they took the sharp right on the bridge to head towards the exit the bomb detonated. The explosion rocked the area and the team made a death defying sprint towards safety, finding it harder and harder to keep their footing.

Cloud suddenly noticed that Jessie wasn't beside him anymore. She had fallen a few feet back when the bomb exploded. He turned quick and speedily ran to her. He picked her up without checking to see if she was still alive and ran all-out towards the exit.

In the corner of his eye he could see structures of the reactor falling apart and burning.

A huge ball of flame exploded out of the top of the reactor just as he jumped through the exit door with Jessie. His body ached and his skin felt like it was on fire having been so close to the heat. From within the long hallway he could see that the rest of the team was crouched behind a huge steel wall.

He raced to them, threw Jessie to Barret, and dove just as the main explosion went off, illuminating the dark night sky of Midgar.


	2. 1-2 The Old Man in the Canyon

2. The Old Man in the Canyon

1

A low whine reverberated through Bugenhagen's cabin, a sound the old man was becoming all too familiar with. What started as an indiscriminate hum quickly escalated into a scratchy moan, further amplified by the custom-built sound system Bugenhagen and a few others had assembled not too long ago.

The old man knew he could simply switch off the system, therefore keeping the steadily-more-frequent noise at bay, but why else had he had the system installed if not to listen to the sounds of the Planet?

_I don't sleep much these days anyhow,_ he thought as he sat up in his bed on the second story of his cabin. He winced at the familiar gunshot-like crackle of the joints behind his knees, and then grabbed for his cerulean robe.

"Is something wrong, Grandfather?" a voice called from across the hall.

Bugenhagen smiled to himself. He had been _trying_ to be stealthy. "Ho Ho Hooo, Nanaki! I'll certainly never have to concern myself with unwanted guests in the middle of the night with you around."

There was a moment of silence, and then the voice replied, "Grandfather . . ."

"Everything is fine, Nanaki," Bugenhagen said, rubbing at his stiff back. "I just want to take a look at the stars."

"There's been a lot of noise lately," Nanaki said, now walking slowly out of his room.

"Indeed, there has been," the old man responded, and then stopped short in his slow walk. "Nanaki . . ."

"Yes?"

"Is it keeping you awake? That is, the noise and such?" Bugenhagen watched the reaction of Nanaki.

Although he at first seemed as if he was going to respond with a shrug, Nanaki eventually replied, "Many things keep me up."

Bugenhagen allowed a small smile. "Still brooding about this and that, are we?" A real smile did appear then, as he watched Nanaki shrug. "You're just like your father . . . powerful, brave, and of course, stubborn to the very end."

"Grandfather, don't . . ."

The old man continued, "If someone had wronged you years ago, and then tomorrow that same person told you that the grass beyond this canyon was green, you would spend half a week conjuring up a way to prove that he was wrong, that the grass was actually blue."

Nanaki shook his head and smiled. "For all the intelligence you have, Grandfather, you have an equal amount of stubbornness as well." He blinked and then looked up at Bugenhagen. "If my stubbornness has come from anyone, it's come from you." His face then became solemn. "I inherited nothing from my father . . ."

"Nanaki . . ." Bugenhagen said, but Nanaki was already turning around and jumping back into his bed.

The old man shook his head and sighed.

_Nanaki, what am I going to do with you?_

2

He made his way down the wooden stairs, listening to the creaking boards as well as his creaking bones. He stopped with only one stair to go, as if willing his fragile body into silence before he took the final step.

A minute later he had both of his slippered feet on the floor. He smiled. "Ho Ho Hooo!" he said quietly. "It's a miracle."

His momentary victory over his old bones was short-lived however, when another sound whimpered out of the dark speakers in the darker corners of the living room.

_Seems wrong to worry about a bone or two of mine, when everyone's bones on the Planet may be in trouble soon enough._

3

It had started roughly two months ago. One of the canyon children had been bringing Bugenhagen his week's worth of supplies. The poor thing had tripped over a new prototype he'd been designing, spilling the supplies every which way.

Bugenhagen had gone outside and found the child sprawled out on the ground, surrounded by his week's essentials.

He'd taken the boy inside his home, and had used a bit of water to wash out a scrape the boy had received during the fall.

After the boy realized that Bugenhagen was not going to be mad at him after all, he began to settle down, and they had talked about this and that.

It was during this time that the boy stopped speaking mid-sentence, and had asked, 'What was that?'

Bugenhagen had been perplexed and replied that he hadn't heard anything, but the boy had been insistent that something had made a strange sound.

After remaining silent for a few minutes Bugenhagen began to suspect that the child had simply invented the charade, but before he opened his mouth to say so, he heard a whispery-low moan.

4

Being a man of nature and science, he rapidly became interested in what the sound was, and even more, where the sound was coming from.

He looked at the system that had been installed, and then followed the black wires that ran out from it up the wall and then to the ceiling high above. Beyond the ceiling, on the roof of his cabin, a giant megaphone-shaped structure now existed, angularly pointing up towards the sky above.

It had taken a while to figure out that the sound was coming from above, and Bugenhagen wondered how a bravura occurrence such as this had yet to be written down in any of the ancient textbooks he stored under his bed. He hadn't even heard any word-of-mouth stories involving sounds coming from the sky.

He was housed in a higher elevation, sitting on the pinnacle of Cosmo Canyon, but there were certainly taller buildings in Midgar, the great city across the sea. There were also numerous mountains that reached much greater elevations than anything else on the Planet.

But still, not one word about a sound rushing in from the skies.

_And it seems to be aimed directly at my little cabin. I've yet to hear it even just three feet outside the door._

As he walked through the steel door that housed his room of possessions, he tried to puzzle it all out.

His assumption had been that the Planet itself was making the sounds.

'But why would it do so?' he had asked.

He was a learned person, and in his long lifetime had discovered many things about the Planet. Contrary to the beliefs of the generation before him, Bugenhagen understood that the Planet itself was alive.

_Alive, and with its own consciousness._

He smiled, remembering how many years it had truly taken him to understand that strange concept.

'A consciousness?' he had once said. 'The Planet has a soul?'

When he had finally understood the monumental concept well enough that he had felt it within his own soul, he ultimately decided to drop everything that he was doing and began to dedicate his existence to the Study of Planet Life. The small society that existed within Cosmo Canyon was a perfect place away from cities and technology, and there he and a few followers began their study.

Over time, more and more people had ended up at the canyon, all reporting the same strange pull that had led them there, all saying that there had always been some kind of void within their life.

Bugenhagen and the other elders over the years allowed that void to be filled with the goings-on of the Planet.

Now, as he made his way into the conservatory, he asked again, "So why would the Planet be making these sounds . . . towards me?" He took a breath and paced around the room. "Simply because I am helping its cause? Because I am supplying others with the true knowledge about the Planet?"

With the quick push of a button a holographic model of the inner solar system appeared around Bugenhagen.

The vast model had been a generous gift from a man Bugenhagen hadn't seen in a long time.

He gazed at the Planets, the stars, the hurtling rocks, and found himself walking through the holographic and multihued images.

Looking at the greenish-blue Planet that he and many others were occupying, he could not see any noticeable change.

But minute after minute, as he sat perfectly still, simply gazing at the image of the Planet, he knew in his heart that he felt something.

He couldn't be sure what it was that he felt, but as he looked at the Planet, and remembered those eerie sounds echoing through his house, he knew that some sinister chapter in the Planet's history had begun.

_But what character will I be? What part will I have to play?_

Bugenhagen closed his eyes, allowing his anxious thoughts to overwhelm his old mind.


	3. 1-3 The Flower Girl

3. The Flower Girl

1

After ten minutes of agonizing patience, Cloud stood up and walked to Jessie. Her eyes were open - bloodshot and scared - but open nonetheless. She stood up slowly and hugged him.

_That's two of their lives I've saved now,_ he thought.

The smell of fire overwhelmed the area. But the smell was somewhat tolerable compared to the horrific sound they could all hear, the sound of the citizens of Midgar screaming endlessly, frightened and confused as to what had just happened.

_What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

Biggs, Wedge, and Barret started moving the littered debris away from their exit, the chunky puzzle pieces of rubble occasionally breaking apart in their hands.

Cloud thought about how close he had been to dying, about how huge the explosion was, and about how many people, Shinra associated or not, had been killed.

Wedge finally broke the silence within their temporary shelter. "That should keep the Planet going . . ." He looked around at his exhausted team members, unsure whether or not they could hear him over the shouting outside, but ultimately not caring. He finished, "At least . . . a little longer."

Having not heard any of the others respond, Biggs nodded his head and meekly replied, "Yeah . . ."

Barret chucked a cannonball-sized piece of debris away from their potential exit. Casually brushing soot out of his gnarled beard he said, "That goddamn explosion was even bigger than I thought it was gonna be. Goddamn . . ."

"You can say that again," Biggs piped in.

Cloud checked himself for injuries, but besides a slight ringing in his ears he appeared to be fine.

"Everyone alright?" the mercenary asked, squinting into the dark and smoky area they were clustered in.

"Yeah," Jessie began.

Barret quickly spun around. "Hey, hot shot!" he said, looking down at Cloud. "I'm the leader! I'll decide when it's time for chit-chat, got it?"

Cloud felt a rush of fury rising through his limbs as he stood up. "Yeah, I got it!" He half-heartedly kicked at a pile of rubble. "But keep talking to me like that and I'll let you fall next time." He pointed a gloved finger at Barret. "Do _you_ got that, Mr. Leader?"

"Cloud, don't . . ." Biggs began, before Barret slapped him upside the head.

"New rule!" he shouted, stomping his large foot. "None of you are allowed to talk to this fool until the mission is over."

Jessie took a breath. "But Barret . . . the mission is over."

"It's over, is it?" the large man yelled. "Are we back at the hideout yet? Are we a hundred percent positive that no Shinra punks are gonna be lookin' for us?" He huffed. "Don't be so stupid, Jessie. I know you ain't dumb."

Cloud stepped forward. "Well, since none of you are allowed to talk to me," he turned towards Barret, "and I surely don't want to talk to you, let's say we just get the hell out of this dust trap."

Barret looked as if he wanted to shout a remark back at the mercenary, but for once kept his cool. "Let's go," is all he spit out.

Together they each moved the debris while simultaneously listening to the outside noise grow greater in volume as well as in hysterics.

_I wonder how many city blocks we just took out,_ Cloud thought, and then tried to remember how many housing buildings usually occupied a block. _Either way we've just killed a whole hell of a lot of people tonight._

The darkness of the space they were occupying soon became relatively claustrophobic, and then escalated to the point of a stifling lunacy.

"This debris . . ." Wedge began, before sucking in the dusty air.

"Isn't being moved fast enough . . ." Biggs finished, also trying to get some of the filthy air into his straining lungs.

Barret hadn't wanted to use the other bomb if they didn't have to, but realized that the pile of rubble was too much in quantity, as well as in weight, and looked over at Jessie. "Jessie, you're gonna have to use the smaller bomb for the exit, just as we had planned for."

Still catching her breath, Jessie sighed deeply, feeling a sudden tickle in her stomach, a tickle that didn't feel right.

_No more explosions tonight . . . _Cloud thought, understanding the look on her face.

As if also reading Jessie's mind, Barret shouted, "The bomb, Jessie. Now!" He was restless and didn't like being in the small space anymore than the rest of them. He also didn't want to be hanging around so close to the reactor's remains when Shinra came around to inspect what had gone wrong.

Cloud understood Barret's mindset, and was forced to give the mammoth, gunarmed man some credit.

_Sure, AVALANCHE will claim full responsibility, but apparently Barret isn't stupid enough to wait around at the scene of the crime._

Jessie quickly moved over to the wall. She looked at everyone else, signaled for them to move back, and then set the bomb. She ran quickly to the others and in a few seconds or so, an explosion a fraction of the size of the previous one blew a semi-spherical hole through the concrete wall.

2

The team poured out of the demolished wall and back onto the streets of Midgar. No one was in the immediate area because of the tremendous explosion, but Barret wasted no time lingering. He yelled, "Aright, now let's get outta here! Rendezvous at the Sector 8 train station. Split up and get on the damn train! Slackers get left behind!"

Barret watched as Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs all ran in opposite directions. He clenched his fist when he realized that Cloud hadn't run off with the rest of them.

His life had been saved by the mercenary, as had Jessie's, and sure, he had helped with the overall mission, but the little punk really only cared about himself, right?

He saw Cloud walking towards him so he clenched his fist again and turned away, staring into the demolished reactor.

Screams and sirens decorated the usually silent nights that he was accustomed to down in the slums below the plate.

He also heard Cloud behind him, attempting to get his attention.

He ignored the punk.

Thick, bulbous smoke floated up in gargantuan amounts towards the sky, blacker than the smoke that the people of Midgar were accustomed to seeing.

_What have I gotten myself involved with? _Barret thought._ Is this really what I set out to do?_

He shook his head. "Of course it is!" he said aloud. "We all knew there'd be casualties but that we were fightin' for the greater good!"

"Barret," Cloud said behind him. "Who are you talking to?"

The large man gritted his teeth, still ignoring Cloud while simultaneously searching the littered area for some justification. Nothing calmed the nerves like some good ol' goddamn justification.

From where he stood he could see a Shinra security guard lying face down on the filthy street, still partially on fire. Smothered garbage ranked the repulsive air around the dead man.

He could also see a few dead canines. They had probably been wandering the streets of Midgar in search of food. He saw a small, chocolate brown pup whimpering still, clinging onto the last moments of its life. Occasionally it made an attempt to lick at the deep wound already festering along its flank.

Just beyond the dog . . . was a child.

This was not the justification that Barret was looking for.

It sickened him having to see the sight of a dead boy, five to six years old at most, never given a chance.

It appeared that even with only minutes left of its life the dog continued its duty and watched over the child.

_Goddamn . . ._

Barret finally turned around to face Cloud, and saw that the mercenary was fighting back tears.

"This isn't exactly what we had in mind," Barret said, again finding himself looking for justification.

"I know," Cloud said. "But there's nothing any of us can do about it now. All that's left is my . . ."

"If it's about your pay, save it 'til we're back at the hideout," Barret said, cutting Cloud off. A thick vein in his neck pulsed, as if it was barely able to house Barret's aggression.

With a last look at Cloud he ran off, leaving the mercenary to stand alone amongst the rubble and death.

3

Cloud glanced up and saw a colorless billboard advertising the 'breathtaking' new play, 'Loveless'. The picture of the crying girl on the billboard was a scary similarity to how a lot of the Midgar citizens most likely felt right now.

The ex-member of SOLDIER ran on ahead, in the direction Barret had gone. A few people were rioting. Apparently in some parts of Midgar the power had gone out due to the loss of Mako flow from the Number 1 reactor. He heard some people putting the blame on Shinra while others accused AVALANCHE.

_And they're both right, aren't they?_

He turned and looked back at the smoldering ruin of the reactor, now only a demolished volcano leaking a fiery greenish-blue lava. While it felt good to view the seething rubble knowing that shutting the reactor down was going to help save lives, he also felt a touch of sympathy as he watched the fires trounce new, unburned areas.

He hated the Shinra, possibly more than anyone he knew, but what he had just taken part in had caused a lot of pain to a lot of people.

_People that didn't need any more pain and sorrow in their lives._

To his left, a few feet back from the street, he saw a group of boys run into a flower girl, not bothering to stop, apologize, or even help her back to her feet.

He ran over to her, offered a hand, and helped her up from the dirty ground.

_I can at least do something good tonight,_ he thought.

She was a few inches shorter than him and had emerald eyes, brown hair that seemed to glisten, and a face that one normally associated with an angel. Her pale, pink dress and cherry-red jacket made her stand out from everyone else in the vicinity. She was dazzling, yet pure.

She smiled and said, "Excuse me, do you know what happened?" She glanced to her right where the Number 1 Mako Reactor had stood intact only minutes ago.

Cloud didn't want to miss the train back down to the slums, but he also felt compelled to say something. He responded, "Nothing. Hey . . . listen. . ." He glanced at the flower basket she held in her hand. "Don't see many flowers around here."

"Oh, these? Do you like them? They're only a gil."

"Well then sure," he said, smiling back at her, "I guess I'll buy one then."

The way she smiled made Cloud forget about everything that he had just been a part of. She handed him one and said, "Thank you, here you go."

He glanced up from her angelic face to a ribbon laced through her hair.

"Is that," he began, "materia?"

The flower girl's eyes lit up. "So that glow in your eyes isn't just reflecting off of the ruined reactor . . ."

The girl slowly lifted her arm and gently fingered the white orb tied within the pink ribbon.

Cloud shook his head. "No . . . it can't be. I've never heard of materia that was white before." He paused. "And wait . . . how do you know about the glow within my eyes?"

She took her hand away from the orb on her head and closed her eyes. "I know many things . . . but for now, I have to go. And you should too . . . it's going to get dangerous up here soon. Even more so than it is now."

"But . . ." Cloud stammered, feeling the familiar twinge in his head start to creep out of hiding.

The girl only smiled and casually started to walk away. Before she was too far she spun around and said, "I'll see you around," and then continued down the streets of Midgar, out of sight.

4

Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie speedily made their way through the crowds of panicked citizens towards the train station. If everything went according to plan, one train would still make the trip back down to the slums, even after a disruption occurred within the city.

"Some night," Wedge said, breathing shallowly.

Beside him, Jessie nodded. "I'm not sure if we should be rejoicing . . . but my bomb certainly ended up doing the job."

Wedge replied, "Yeah . . . it certainly did." He took a quick look at Biggs, knowing that he too was thinking that the bomb had done its job a little too well.

Jessie continued, "All I really did was follow the directions I found hidden in the Shinra mainframe. After that I just sorted out the steps I needed to build the bomb . . . and that was that."

"You almost didn't have a chance to admire your handy work," Biggs said, huffing and puffing from the steady jog.

Jessie nodded. "Yeah . . . Cloud." She took a breath and continued, "I can't say 'I guess I had him figured wrong', because I still don't have him figured out. But he not only saved my life tonight . . . he saved Barret's as well."

Wedge stopped in his tracks. "You've gotta be shitting me!"

"What happened?" Biggs added.

Jessie gestured them over to a sidewalk and said, "I'll tell you in a bit, but first, we have one last thing we need to do."

Wedge looked past her and to the pale gray wall standing under the brilliance of a nearby streetlight. "Right," he said, removing his backpack and taking out a can of spray-paint. He tossed it to Jessie. "You've got the best handwriting."

She laughed. And damn, did it feel good to laugh. "But it's spray-paint."

Wedge shrugged. "Oh, come on. Any other day you'd be trying to convince me that girls are better at everything anyways. Just do it."

She smiled and reached out for the can. "We all unanimously decided on the second message, right?"

Biggs nodded. "Right."

Now looking a little anxious, Wedge said, "Just hurry up and do it. I don't wanna be around here any longer than I have to be."

"Alright," Jessie said, and quickly went to work on the wall.

When she was finished the initially blank wall now read:

**From the Protectors of the Planet:**

**Don't Be Fooled By Shinra**

**Mako Energy Doesn't Last Forever**

**Mako Is The Planet's Life Source**

**The End Is In Sight!**

Directly under this, she wrote:

**This Explosion Brought To You By:**

**AVALANCHE**

"Very nice," Wedge said, grinning as he read it over once more.

"Indeed," agreed Biggs. "Now let's haul ass."

5

As Cloud watched the flower girl walk out of sight his complete confusion soon faded to a grim arousing of the senses as he focused back on the scenery all around him.

A mother was crying feverishly, screaming something about her missing son. Cloud only caught some of the words that came off baffled and distorted in the woman's sobbing and depressed voice, her face wrinkled with distress.

_I've got to get out of here,_ he thought, and not for the first time.

He continued on ahead, trying to avoid eye contact, and more importantly, trying to avoid hearing the painful weeping of the citizens as well as the frenzied look on each of their faces.

On more than one occasion he could hear different voices each plagued with the same aggressive bewilderment.

Almost right behind him a man bleeding from the head jogged by yelling, "What the hell is going on?"

Cloud could only imagine what most of the citizens were going through right now, the wild kind of confusion where you are half convinced that you'll be waking up any second.

_But no . . . this is no dream._

He stopped and moved out of the man's path, positive that there were no words in which to soothe him with.

As he ran on ahead he glanced up at a wall and saw that it had been spray-painted with bright yellow-green writing.

_Well . . . that's what they wanted,_ he thought. _Now everyone in Midgar will know who's responsible for the bombing._

Cloud thought for a second that he heard the faint sound of a train whistle and realized that he had been lingering too long. As big as the city of Midgar was he didn't want the burden of hiding out above the plate all night long.

He changed his speed from a walk to a slow jog, not wanting to invite anymore attention to himself.

It was only after a few minutes that he found himself about a quarter mile from the train station, and yet he was still reluctantly gazing about at panicked citizens.

Shaking his head, he knew he should have realized before that everyone in Midgar, above and below, would've heard the explosion.

He then heard something he was tremendously reluctant to hear.

_That's the sound of the train starting._

Not concerned with being noticed anymore, only about catching the last train of the night, he sped up to a sprint.

6

Barret slowly peeled back the train door, and swiftly stepped in. All around him were giant, wooden crates and other smaller packing equipment.

"Yo," he whispered.

Three heads slowly popped up out of hiding.

Barret asked, "Biggs?"

"Here," the large man said.

"Wedge?"

"Right here," Wedge replied.

"Jessie?"

"I'm here," she said, brushing her dark red hair out of her eyes.

Barret then paused, not so much reluctant to say Cloud's name, but figuring that the mercenary would play his 'too cool' act on Barret because he had been the last to get back to the train.

He shrugged, knowing he'd have to bite the bullet. "Cloud? You here, white boy?"

There was no answer.

"Damnit, Cloud Strife," Barret began, before Jessie stood up shaking her head.

"He's not here yet," she said.

Barret clenched his fist. "If this is some kind of joke, I will shoot each of you squarely in the face . . ."

Wedge put his hands up defensively. "No! It's no joke! You got here right after the three of us."

Barret closed his eyes.

_Damn that white boy._

7

Cloud reached a bridge and saw train tracks beneath it. The train obviously went under it during its run. He stopped to listen, wondering if the train had actually left already.

He should have known that this exact moment would have been the worst possible time for something to go wrong, so he wasn't exactly surprised when he heard voices shouting behind him. "Hey! You there!"

"Stop right now!" hollered a Shinra soldier.

There were three of them.

"Damnit! I don't have time to be messin' around with you guys!" Cloud yelled as he started to run. After a couple feet however, he stopped.

_Even if I do make it to the train they would still know where I was going and come after me._

It had been a shaky start so far – and he didn't know if he could ever see himself tolerating someone like Barret – but he didn't plan on endangering the rest of the rebel group.

_Barret's enough for them to worry about without me making matters worse and leading more Shinra guards directly to them._

He turned around to see the three soldiers with their long, polished swords coming right for him. He pulled out his own and prepared for action. In his mind he knew that normally three soldiers wouldn't be a big deal, but he had had a long night thus far.

The first one swung with such force and aggression that Cloud nearly dropped his Buster sword. Quickly he jumped back, not wanting to be surrounded, and checked where the other two were. The first one again came lunging at him, and learning from last time Cloud darted out of the way instead of taking the blow. The soldier went past him, almost falling to the ground. Cloud kept moving though, and went straight for one of the other soldiers who wasn't ready for him.

The man stuck out his sword in hopes to break the blow but was shortly wishing he had tried to dodge it. Cloud's sword cut him just above the wrist, sending blood from broken arteries swimming into the air. The man dropped his sword only an instant before Cloud swung again, putting a life-taking hole through him.

He felt nothing as he took away the man's life. His hatred for the Shinra flowed deep inside of his veins.

As Cloud pulled his sword out from the soldier's body the other guard standing close by raised his own blade up above his head. But before he could swing downwards, placing his sword into his enemy, Cloud crouched down and swung aggressively at the man's legs. Although the blade did not go completely through, which would have resulted in the loss of this man's leg from the knee down, the sound he did hear - that nauseating sound of steel-on-bone - was enough to let Cloud know that this man was out of the fight.

Before he could stand up he was kicked from behind. Barrel-rolling across the damp Midgar road he could hear the sound of the train. Not only this, but he could feel it under him. The train must have been close, and he needed to get on it.

He turned towards the edge of the bridge, knowing now what he had to do.

He quickly stood up, hoping and praying that he would time the jump out right.

He sprinted away from the last soldier, hurried towards the edge of the bridge, and then climbed over the wobbly and rusted railing.

Hearing the combined sounds of the train below and of the soldier yelling behind him Cloud let go of the railing and frantically holstered his Buster sword. A plume of smoke soon rushed up into his face, blinding him from his potential landing zone.

_Oh, shit! Here goes nothing!_

Wheezing for air, blinded by smoke, and inches away from being stabbed by the soldier's approaching blade, he leaped into the air, hoping that when he landed he would be on the roof of the speeding locomotive that was swiftly passing beneath him.


	4. 1-4 Looking Ahead

4. Looking Ahead

1

The fires around the city were finally being extinguished.

"But that's the easy part," Felix Shinra said to the large man standing beside him. He himself was equally as rotund, their lives of luxury apparent in their fitted and large suits.

"Indeed," responded Alrik Heidegger, before letting out one of his frequent bouts of horse laughter.

The President ignored the outburst. "We spend so much time and money on these ignorant citizens." He gazed seventy stories below to the streets of the city, still swarming with distressed people. "I often wonder if it's truly worth it."

Heidegger pulled himself away from the curved and crystal-clear bay windows of the President's Floor and turned to Shinra. "Sir . . . of course it's worth it. Our reactors are making record profits this term."

Shinra rolled his eyes. "That is not what I mean, Alrik." He absentmindedly reached a chubby hand up to his burgundy jacket, rubbing his thumb on one of the shiny buttons. "Obviously the reactors are doing their jobs. It's just . . ." He cleared his throat. "It's just these people . . . these _citizens_ as they call themselves. They take and take and take . . . and then the moment I put my guard down, they try to hurt me."

"Sir, I can assure you, SOLDIER is being dispersed throughout the city as we speak," Heidegger said, a stern look on his thickly bearded face.

The President yawned. "And yes, SOLDIER will take care of this ridiculous display of hysterics, but it's only a matter of time until a few more of the citizens will again attempt to overtake me." He slammed his fist down on his cherry-wood desk. "Citizens," he spat. "More like vermin."

_That's exactly what they are,_ he thought. _Ravenous, infecting vermin. Simply swarming around my city, my jewel._

He had allowed them to work within his factories, he had allowed them to start Shinra-associated small businesses on the plate. He had even allowed the worthless citizens to exist within the slums underneath the plate.

With the snap of a finger he could have the First Class fighters of SOLDIER enter the slums and dispose of half of the vermin in one night . . . but he didn't.

He had expected obedience for all that he did for these people. He had expected they would show him some respect.

Midgar was supposed to be his playground, and it was being overtaken by locusts.

_How did my father deal with these useless vermin?_

He looked over at Heidegger, his closest advisor as well as commander of the Shinra military.

The President asked, "You were on for some time under my father, correct?"

"Yes, sir," Heidegger replied promptly.

"How did he deal with these so-called 'citizens'?"

Heidegger paused, apparently thinking his answer out before he spoke it. "Well, sir, Shinra was a different kind of company before your father passed away."

And true enough that was. These days Shinra, Inc. was a worldwide dominating force that supplied power to a large percentage of the Planet. Their Mako reactor technology had changed the world, almost shutting down the mining industry overnight. Precious minerals were things of the past. Now everything was Mako-based, and Shinra, Inc. was reaping the benefits of the drastic change.

Before the initial discovery of Mako and its potential uses Shinra had been a modest-sized weapons manufacturer.

It had gotten by with the yearly sales to the military along with the occasional individual transaction.

_Of course, there were secrets even then,_ he mused, thinking about the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim. Shinra, Inc. had started in that town a continent away. _Perhaps that's why the Nibel Mountains served as the location for the first Mako reactor as well._

The war had really been the turning point.

When Junon, Cardia, and Midgar had declared war on the small island of Wutai, Shinra, Inc. had finally found itself rolling in gil. They produced and dispersed more weapons and ammunition those years then they ever had before.

_And it was in Wutai that my father first truly understood the power of Mako, and its potential possibilities._

From there everything had taken off, and when his father had died, he himself had become the ruler of the Planet.

"I understand," he finally said to Heidegger. "When my father was in charge, Shinra, Inc. didn't have the same kind of responsibility it does now."

Heidegger nodded. "That's correct, sir."

The President grinned. "Well then, perhaps it's time we took a different approach."

"Sir?"

"Perhaps money alone won't control the vermin anymore. Perhaps . . . fear is needed."

The large man beside him laughed. "Would you like me to make a public service announcement?"

"No," Shinra said, shaking his head. "But you could begin preparations for a public execution." He smiled, showing too many teeth. "We'll hunt down those responsible . . . and then we'll publicly televise their gruesome deaths. That should stomp out any other thoughts of rebellion from the minds of the citizens." He grinned so hard that for a moment he felt a slight pain in his jaw.

Heidegger saluted. "I'll get the Turks on it right away."

2

It didn't take long for the Turks to do their job.

_After all,_ Tseng thought, _how hard could a job be when you don't even have to kill anyone?_

He was the leader of the Turks, serving under only Shinra himself, as well as his second-in-command, Heidegger.

He had long, dark hair, and thin eyebrows that sat over even thinner eyes. He wore the navy blue Turk suit well, as did all of the Turks. It was specifically a top-of-the-line organization.

After Tseng had explained what their newest job was to the others, they had spread out across the city swiftly.

Tseng at first had thought it was a little far-fetched that those responsible for the bombing would have been stupid enough to leave a message in plain sight for all to see. But Heidegger had been adamant, saying that the President felt that those responsible would have wanted him to know.

And after talking to a few of the rioters - those that were not being detained or sent home by members of SOLIDER - Tseng was pointed in the direction of Rousselle Street.

Here he found the message they had been looking for, sprayed on a wall with thick yellow-green spray-paint.

"It's AVALANCHE, sir," he reported to Heidegger, positive that the President would be listening in as well. Tseng continued, "They must be back."

"Damn," Heidegger said. "That changes things a bit."

Tseng then heard Felix Shinra in the background. "I thought that miserable band of rebels had been taken care of already. I thought they had been wiped out."

"Apparently . . . our reports were incorrect," Heidegger said. He then continued to Tseng, "You all have the night off, but tomorrow start organizing a search for anyone associated with AVALANCHE."

"Are we so sure this isn't just a bunch of copycats?" Tseng asked. "They could simply be pretending to be the rebel group, because of the reputation and the damage done in the past."

"It doesn't matter," Heidegger yelled into the phone. "Whoever they are, they blew up a very expensive reactor and are going to cost us a lot of money."

"Yes, sir," Tseng said. He then asked, "What about our other objectives, mainly the job you had me put Reno on?"

This time the President answered himself. "That is still our number one priority. Hojo is getting anxious for the girl. Apparently he has an even greater use for her now, besides the importance she'll likely play in the colonization of Neo-Midgar."

"I understand, sir," Tseng said, though he truly did not. "I'll have Reno double his efforts."

"Have him triple his efforts," Heidegger shouted.

Tseng continued, "And in the morning the others and I will begin weeding out this AVALANCHE business."

He ended the call and sighed, knowing that if AVALANCHE truly was back that it would mean more work for him and the rest of the Turks.

_And as for Reno, he better have more luck in his search for the girl. If Hojo's getting anxious I can only imagine how the President himself feels._

They had searched near and far for the girl, and had even located her a handful of times, but she had always managed to evade them.

_If it wasn't for that old church in the slums that she apparently can't resist going to from time to time we'd probably never find her,_ he thought, knowing that in all of the years of searching the girl's actual home had yet to be located.

Thousands of slum homes as well as the public housing on the plate had been searched again and again, but to no avail.

Within the past years the search had even spread to some of the smaller outlying towns, but Tseng knew she was here in Midgar. He could feel it in his soul.

_She comes out every once in a while . . . just to mock us,_ he thought. _Just to let us know she's still here and that we still can't catch her._

He took a deep breath, but felt no relief come from it.

"So much to do," he said, letting out another titanic sigh, and then finally turned away from the wall. He then made his way down the cobbled street, hoping that he could squeeze in a few hours of sleep before the morning.


	5. 1-5 The Long Ride Home

5. The Long Ride Home

1

Barret and the rest of the team gloomily sat in the train car joined only by a few piles of crates and some scattered trash.

Cloud had not come.

For a while no one spoke, thinking about what might have happened to the mercenary. The sound of the train moving along its track provided a constant rhythm, almost sarcastically reminding them of their loss, over and over again.

Each person felt a tickle in their stomach just as Jessie had felt it before, some less than others, but it was certainly present in all of them.

Jessie still had it the worst. Now that she had had time to really sit and think about it she knew she had never come so close to dying before, and she had certainly never killed so many people before.

They all knew that what they had done was the right thing to do, perhaps even the only thing they could've done to hurt the Shinra. It was the innocents hurt in the process that gave them that tickle in their stomachs, and perhaps it wouldn't stop tickling until the day they died.

Biggs was the first to speak, a few minutes into the train ride. "Cloud never came."

Wedge glanced up at him. "Cloud . . . I wonder if he was killed?"

Hearing this, Barret slammed his fist down on a crate. "No way!"

He knew as soon as the bomb went off that they wouldn't have been able to do it without Cloud. He accepted that now. Cloud was one of the best fighters he had ever seen and doubted that if Cloud could get past that giant scorpion machine that he would have been killed by a paltry Shinra guard or whatever else he had possibly encountered on his way to the train.

Cloud missing the train aside, Barret too found he was thinking again about the mission and about the innocents killed.

He slammed the crate again, this time harder than the previous bombardment. Veins pulsed on his massive, brown neck; sweat dripped down his face and disappeared into his snarled black beard.

Wedge, shocked by the sound of the crate collapsing in on itself, tensed up and took in a deep mouthful of air before looking at Barret. "Say . . . do you think Cloud's going to fight until the very end for AVALANCHE?"

Barret hit the remains of the crate again, fire in his eyes. "How the hell do I know? Do I look like a goddamn mind reader?" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "If y'all weren't such screw-ups I wouldn't have had to hire that spiky-headed punk in the first place!"

The trio didn't take this comment at face value. They knew Barret said a lot of things when he wasn't in a good mood. They were smarter than he thought and could tell that he was worried about Cloud the same as they were. They knew that Barret had needed him tonight and would continue to need him for future AVALANCHE missions.

That is . . . if the other missions were of the same magnitude as the current one.

"I don't wanna hear another goddamn thing about Cloud," Barret said. "He was helpful, I admit it. I'm sure you all understand that already anyways. But a fat lot of good he's going to do for us dead in a gutter . . . or worse, caught by the Shinra."

Jessie asked, "You really think he'd tell them where our hideout is?"

Tossing a broken piece of wood, Barret said, "Who knows what that punk would or wouldn't do!"

"I don't know," Wedge said.

"What don't you know, fool?"

Wedge continued, "If actions speak louder than words, I'd say Cloud has already proved himself through his actions . . . no matter what he said before that upset us."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Barret asked.

Wedge took a cautionary look at Jessie, and then back towards their leader. "Well . . . it's just that underneath that tough-guy act of his, he . . . um, well . . . he did some good things for us tonight."

Biggs then said what Wedge had been maneuvering around. "I agree. After all, he did save your life!"

At the mention of this, they all immediately saw a drastic change of color on Barret's face.

Jessie felt a chill pass through her, knowing that Barret would eventually calm down and figure out that they had learned about Cloud's heroic act from her.

But for now Barret was up on his feet, pacing furiously back and forth, mouthing silenced profanities to himself.

Biggs understood what had happened and tried to change the subject, later realizing how miserably he had failed at doing so. He looked towards Barret, half smiled and said, "Hey Barret, when do we get our gil?" Barret opened his eyes, which were now fierce and as fiery as black coal, and slammed his fist into another crate hard enough to break through it. Biggs swallowed his heart back down his throat and whispered, "Uh, nothing. Sorry."

Out of nowhere, something suddenly fell onto the roof of the train, vibrating everything inside the car. The team all jumped to their feet, shocked, and prepared for battle.

Barret pointed his gunarm firmly towards the door.

Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all took to their familiar fighting stances.

Suddenly the door opened . . . and Cloud flipped in from the top of the train.

Barret had been a fraction of a second away from blowing his head off.

2

A unanimous, "Cloud!" from Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, echoed through the small, crate-filled car. Cloud smiled and wiped the sweat from his face, relieved he had made the jump.

And he couldn't lie to himself. It did feel a little good to see that they had been concerned about him.

Grinning widely, he looked around at everyone and said, "Looks like I'm a little late." He could see that _most_ of them were pleased to see him.

Barret, his fist clenched tighter than a vice grip, stood up and yelled, "You damn right you late! Come waltzin' in here, makin' a big ol' goddamn scene!" The veins in his head appeared to be growing by the second.

Triumphantly relieved he had escaped from the guards and had survived his jump onto the train, Cloud wasn't going to let Barret damper his good mood. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so good.

He smiled as he looked at Barret's aggravated face. "It's no big deal . . . just what I always do."

"Damnit!" Barret wailed. "Havin' everyone worried like that! You don't give a shit about no one but yourself!"

Cloud smirked. "Hmm . . . so you _were_ worried about me?"

Shocked and growing angrier by the moment Barret screamed, "WHAT!?" He could tell that the others were actually getting a kick out of Cloud's new persona. He walked over to the mercenary and got right into his face. "I'm takin' it outta your gil, asshole!" He walked to the middle of the car, stomped his foot, and yelled, "Wake up, shitheads! We're moving out! Follow me!" He gave Cloud a quick sneer.

But when Cloud returned the sneer with an easy smile, Barret grunted and exited their train car onto another.

Biggs quickly ran to Cloud and patted him on the back. "Hey Cloud, you were great back there. Simply amazing! I've never seen anyone give it to Barret like that!" He then followed Barret's lead out of the train car.

Wedge went up to Cloud next and said, "You were awesome in the reactor too, Cloud! Don't listen to Barret . . . we all know he appreciates that you saved his life. He just has a hard time expressing his feelings."

"Oh," Cloud said, smiling again – and it felt so good to smile. "Is that what Barret's problem is?"

Wedge laughed and then shook Cloud's hand before running into the other car.

Jessie went to Cloud next, but not before closing the car door Cloud had come through. "Oh Cloud, your face is pitch-black." She used her sleeve to wipe his face. She winked and smiled at him. "There you go. And Cloud . . . thanks for helping me back there at the reactor." She hugged him, and then they both walked into the next car to join the others.

Before Cloud closed the door he thought again about how good he suddenly felt, and about how nice it was that his head wasn't hurting.

3

The next train car was actually a passenger car, not just a storage compartment. The seats were a sickening velvet red and looked about as comfortable as a cactus-turned-couch.

Using the swinging handles to make his way up the narrow aisle, Cloud heard the intercom of the train click on. 'Last train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23 AM, Midgar standard time'. It repeated a few times again throughout the ride.

A well-dressed man in a stunning wine-red suit appeared to be more than annoyed at the commotion Barret and the others were causing. With his head in his lap he said, "This is why I hate the last train." He stood up and exited onto a different car. Barret and the others contentedly sat themselves down and relaxed.

"I still can't believe we did it!" Biggs said. "I mean, we knew it was going to be tough from the get-go, but even on paper it seemed an impossible task."

Jessie hushed him. "Don't talk so loud. You know Barret's in a bad mood."

Wedge agreed. "Yeah. Right about now he probably _would_ shoot each of us in the face if we egged him on."

"So he's not always like this, then?" Cloud asked.

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Well . . . he can be a handful. But that's because he's so driven."

"We all hate the Shinra," Biggs added, "and we all want to help protect the Planet."

Wedge knew where he was going. "And Barret has so much hate for the Shinra and wants to protect the Planet so badly that it was an easy choice to pick him as the new leader of AVALANCHE. So we've learned to put up with his little rants every now and then. But once he calms down – or is just not on a mission actually – he's alright."

"You haven't seen him yet with Marlene anyways," Jessie said. "When he's with her he's a completely different person. She's another reason why he's so driven."

"Who is she?" Cloud asked, remembering at some point during his initiation the name Marlene being mentioned.

Biggs replied, "She's . . . well, she's his daughter I suppose."

"You suppose?" Cloud questioned.

The three in front of him all shrugged. They then turned and saw that Barret was watching the four of them talking in hushed voices. Hastily they split apart.

To Cloud's left he saw an elderly man in an olive green trench coat and brown sweat pants lying under a newspaper on one of the velvet red seats. The old man looked at Cloud and softly said, "This is my house, make yourselves at home."

Wide-eyed and already uncomfortable in these new surroundings, Cloud walked further down the car and nodded his head at the other passenger still sitting on the train. The man was at least in his forties, although his weathered face told you a different story.

He spoke to Cloud as if he had not spoken to anyone else all day. "Hey there! You guys hear about what happened up on the plate?"

Cloud nodded. "A little hard not to . . . that was quite the explosion." He stole a quick glance at Jessie.

"Damn straight it was," the man said, and then turned away from Cloud to look out of the window.

Biggs and Wedge were still up and about, moving continuously. Biggs couldn't stop moving apparently because of the success of the mission.

Wedge however was examining the doors, perhaps preparing for the next assignment. "It seems this train hasn't switched to security mode yet, I'm sure that'll change by tomorrow." He then ran with Biggs to the other side of the car.

Starting to get beyond annoyed, Barret yelled, "Stop actin' like some damn kids! Just sit down and shut your damn mouths!"

Within seconds the two were silent and sitting on a bench near Jessie towards the front of the car.

Seeing his team immediately obey him put a small grin on Barret's face, although it was not quite large enough for anyone else to see.

Jessie called for Cloud. "Hey Cloud, come here. Come take a look at this with me." Cloud walked up past Barret and the others and joined her by a thirteen inch monitor across from the exit door. "It's a map of the Midgar railroad system," she began, pointing at the display screen. "I'll explain it to you. I love stuff like this. Flashy stuff, fast moving machines, bombs. . ."

_First time I've ever heard that from a girl,_ he thought.

Cloud gave her an awkward smile, and then stood patiently while the screen loaded. "Okay, it's about to start," Jessie began. On a green and black map, a wire-frame image of Midgar popped up onto the screen with a unique 'bink' noise. "This is a complete model of the city of Midgar, it's shown at about a 1:10,000 scale." As items on the screen popped up she explained them. She pointed to the upper part of Midgar, where they were coming from and had blown up the Number 1 reactor. "The top plate is about a thousand feet above the ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other massive support structures built on the edge of each sector."

She stopped talking and began to whisper. "The Number 1 reactor we blew up was in the Northern section." Clearing her throat she continued normally. "There are eight reactors total, including the one that was blown up, that provide Midgar with electricity." The screen then lowered the shot of Midgar and focused more on the area below it. "Each town under Midgar in the slums used to have a name, but to be honest, no one remembers them anymore. So instead of names, we refer to them as numbered sectors. That's the kind of place this is. Everyone below the plate is poor and makes a living any way that they can. Some spend their days begging the rich people - who are mostly Shinra employed - for food or gil above the plate, while others survive by selling things to others in the slums. I say 'things' but when you really think about it it's all just junk."

The screen started adding a series of dots all along the outside of the city, continuously going downward. Following the line of dots with her finger, Jessie said, "This is the route the train is on. It spirals around the main support structure. There are checkpoints as well, and at each of them an ID sensor device can check identities and background on any passenger on the train. They can do so by linking the train and the ID's of the train's passengers directly to the central databank at the Shinra Headquarters." She began to whisper again. "Anyone could tell that we look suspicious, so we're using fake ID's."

A red light on the train's ceiling started flashing. Jessie looked at Cloud and grinned. "Well speak of the devil . . . that light means we're at the checkpoint." In no time at all the flickering lights went off and everyone silently blew out a breath of relief, thankful that the fake ID's had worked. "Well, that's a relief." She paused and turned away from the fading screen. "Well Cloud, sorry if I bored you, I'm just really into this stuff, you know?"

Cloud touched her shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it. It was very . . . informational. I appreciated it." He turned from her just as Jessie started to smile.

Cloud was also smiling, for he heard Wedge to the right of him pretending to snore in his sleep.

4

The train circled the shadowy city slowly, steadily leading them back to the slums. They were almost home free.

Barret, who had finally relaxed, looked out one of the grimy windows beside him. The sight made him frown, and seeing a man of Barret's stature frown, Cloud knew something must have truly been wrong out there.

He walked over towards Barret and listened as he talked about what he saw. "You can see the surface now," he began. "This city don't have no day or night." He squeezed his fist and continued, "If that plate and the city on top of it weren't there . . . we could see the sky."

Cloud looked out of the dirty window. The plate, a giant ceiling as far as he could see, loomed over them like an endless nightmare, the kind of nightmare that you wake up from breathing hard, happy that it was just a dream after all.

_Except this is no dream . . ._

Amazed and angered, Cloud yet again thought about how advanced technology like this was wasted. He leaned back from the window and faced Barret. "A floating city." He looked again and realized that he was also frowning. The dark ceiling above took a lot of precious things away from the people who lived in the slums. Shaking his head, he said, "Pretty unsettling scenery."

Barret laughed out loud, puzzling Cloud. "Goddamn! 'Floating city'. Wow, never expect to hear that out of someone like you. You jes' full of surprises."

Cloud merely stared back at Barret, trying to figure out why the man was so defensive about the smallest of things.

Taking in Cloud's stare, Barret thought for a moment that perhaps the mood between the white boy and himself was finally somewhat similar for the first time since they'd met. Dissolving his mocking smile, and taking all the sardonic joy out of his eyes, Barret sighed. "The upper world, a city on a plate." He got angry and punched his seat. "It's because of that goddamn plate that people underneath are suffering! The slums are smothered by the polluted air! Do you hear me? Smothered! And on top of that, the reactors up top keep draining up all the energy from the Planet, which is making things even worse."

"If it's such a problem, then why doesn't everyone move onto the plate?" Cloud asked, the tone of his voice letting Barret know he meant no harm.

"Dunno," Barret answered, his head lowered. "Probably because they ain't got no gil. Or maybe . . . 'cause they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets. I don't know . . ."

Cloud sat back against the seat. He took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess I know what you mean. No one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train, it can't run anywhere except where its rails take it." He turned around and watched the plate lurch farther away and become only a hazy grayness above him, as if the sky was filled with smoke and dust.

5

Soon enough the train arrived at the Sector 7 train station. Everyone, tired and sore, got off slowly. Cloud waited for the rest of the team to get off before he did. He took one last look at the plate through the train window, and then walked off to join the rest.

With lights that were barely shining, wreckage of every kind filling each sector, and a thickening of the air that you could feel in your throat, they all welcomed the land of the slums.

Beggars, who most likely stayed at the station all day in search of some gil or a bit of food, could be seen sleeping in random heaps of garbage scattered throughout the area. Cloud tried to ignore the ever-present sadness around him and went to join the others who were standing by. He walked slowly down the steps - or the lack there of - and joined the huddle.

Not trying to give off a sad or somber mood Barret got the team riled up, bumping up against them and tugging on their shirts. "This mission was a success," he said, looking at every single one of them. "But don't get lazy now, the hard part's still to come! Don't y'all be scared of all that action, cuz the next time could be worse! We are AVALANCHE reborn! And although we had some casualties . . . in the end we did what we started out to do. You all did well . . ." With a firm stomp to the ground he added, "Meet back at the hideout," and then sped off. The rest of the team split up just as they had on their way to the train station up on the plate, and then made their way back to Tifa's Seventh Heaven.


	6. 1-6 Unsettling Thoughts

6. Unsettling Thoughts

1

After the train had finally arrived at the station – otherwise known as the 'Train Graveyard' – Aeris Gainsborough quickly exited and made her way to the entrance of Sector 6. She knew it would take her a while to get back to Sector 5, and that her mother would be worrying about her.

_She's probably been worrying since the moment I left the house,_ Aeris thought. _Let alone how she must have felt after hearing that explosion earlier._

Behind her she heard some commotion, and turned around to see a large brown-skinned man with some kind of gun apparently grafted into his arm hollering at a small group of people.

She turned back in the direction she was going and found that her pace had quickened.

Making her way through the broken and shambled pathways of Sector 6 she continuously checked her vicinity for the many gangs of the slums. She knew that she could protect herself, but that by doing so she would ultimately be revealing herself to the Shinra.

She had spent too many years avoiding them to get caught now.

The dull, hazy lights all around her were quite useless in determining what time it was. Because of the plate's superb job of hiding the sky it always looked as if the slums were stuck in a constant state of dusk.

"It's late," she whispered to herself, knowing that she hadn't risked being out this late in roughly five years.

_Since Zack . . ._

It was also always so warm down in the slums, so humid.

She set the basket of flowers down on the solid dirt and removed her cherry-red jacket, casually tying it around her waist.

She picked up the basket and continued to plod on, the view in her peripherals filled with towers of refuse.

A split-second flash of her ex-boyfriend's face flickered in her mind, and she was surprised to feel that same tug in her chest. Five years was too long to still be dwelling on the past.

_But it's not just coincidence,_ she thought.

Glancing down at the basket of flowers she had been carrying all day she counted the eleven pieces of coppery gil she had received in exchange for eleven flowers.

One of those transactions was stuck firmly in her mind.

_That's why I'm thinking of Zack._

It was true. The boy with the blonde, spiky hair had acted just like her old flame. He had the same mannerisms, seemed to speak the same, and he even wore a SOLDIER uniform over his slightly built body. He had even appeared to be the same exact height as Zack.

But it was his eyes that had been more startling than anything else. The boy had gazed at her in the same way that Zack had. He had gazed at her with those same greenish-blue, Mako-infused eyes.

She felt her heart flutter, even as she passed a family of four sleeping under a few issues of the 'Shinra Times'.

She was not uncaring; she was simply oblivious to everything else at the moment. Those eyes – and that boy – were consuming her every thought.

2

Continuing through Sector 6 she saw that she was finally approaching an end to the dizzying maze of rubbish.

If she were not so sure that her own sanity was intact, she might have been able to convince herself that the explosion of the Mako reactor had unknowingly jarred her in some way or another. She could convince herself that what she had seen in the blonde-haired boy had been an illusion, and that her mind had been playing tricks on her.

But she felt fine.

_That is . . . if you consider running into a boy who reminds you so much of someone else that it hurt, fine._

She touched the white orb tied within her ribbon again, remembering that the boy had asked about it. He'd known right away that it was materia, but had quickly convinced himself that it couldn't have been, simply because of its pallid color.

This was understandable, for Aeris herself had yet to see an orb of materia the same white hue as hers.

Not that she saw much materia these days since Zack had been out of the picture. He used to love showing off for her, sending fire, ice, and lightning this way and that when others weren't around, the glowing orbs concealed within his fists during the frenzied performance.

He too had asked about Aeris' single orb of materia, but having known Zack – and let's face facts, loved him - she had told him where it had come from.

_I probably would've told this other boy if things hadn't been so chaotic up there tonight._

She found that she had stopped short in her walk, now just past the arch in the vast, concrete wall that separated Sector 6 from Sector 5.

It was a scary thought.

Would she have really told the boy anything . . . simply because he reminded her of Zack?

She'd been so cautious for so long that she wanted to hope that this wasn't true.

But she may have . . . and that didn't make her feel well at all.

The Shinra had been searching for her as far back as she could remember, and because of the circumstances of her arrival to Midgar in the first place, she supposed they'd been trying to acquire her since the day she'd been born.

She had a vague idea what they wanted from her. But she wasn't about to let them make her a specimen somewhere inside of the massive tower that housed the president of Shinra himself.

Thinking of the boy from on top of the plate she again felt the soft tug within her chest.

Was it possible to love someone she didn't know?

_It would be for all the wrong reasons,_ she thought, feeling a substantial proportion of truth in that. _And besides, it was just a strange encounter, during a strange situation, involving some strange coincidences. Nothing more._

She closed her eyes, and then said a few words – secret words that had kept her house hidden for so long. That power she felt within her had begun to feel so natural these days, and she knew it was something that she was just going to have to get used to.

_This is why they want me,_ she thought, feeling the warmth that had flood through her body slowly dissipate.

She knew it was late, but she wasn't the least bit surprised to see the kitchen light still on. Her mother was looking at her through the window. She waved, and then made her way to the front door.

3

"Aeris Gainsborough!" her mother, Elmyra, exclaimed. "Do you know how late it is?" A pink flush had entered her pale cheeks.

Aeris nodded. "Sorry, Ma. There was a bit of a mess up on the plate. I barely even got onto the last train of the night."

With her hands on her hips, Elmyra said, "Scared me half to death. You know I don't like you going out for such long periods of time. I don't like you going out at all."

Staring back at Elmyra, Aeris felt herself start to grin. "We both know that'll never happen."

Elmyra shook her head, and Aeris could tell she was trying not to smile. Walking over and hugging Aeris, she said, "I know. I know. Once you make up your mind about something . . ."

"Right," said Aeris cheerfully, "so since that's settled . . ."

"Wait just a minute," Elmyra said. She was still smiling but the look of concern had yet to leave her eyes. "So where have you been, and what was that horrible sound I heard a couple of hours ago?"

Aeris sat down on one of the four kitchen chairs. "I was just doing my part."

"Selling flowers again?"

"Yes," Aeris replied, her tone level. "I told you before that I wasn't going to let you pay for everything the rest of my life."

"But Aeris, darling," Elmyra said, "your father – rest his soul – left us with enough money to last three or four lifetimes."

Aeris shrugged. "I still want to do my part. And it's not like I can be cooped up in here all day anyways."

"But Aeris, what about . . .?"

"I can handle myself," Aeris cut in. "If it came to that . . . I could."

Elmyra joined her at the table. "I know you could, honey, but I'd rather you not have to."

Aeris rolled her eyes and looked around her cozy house. Her mother and her had had this same conversation dozens of times lately it seemed. They got along great, and she loved the woman with all her heart, but Elmyra worried about her more than Aeris thought possible.

It was sweet, she understood that, and five years ago when Zack had been coming around more often it had been even worse. But Aeris knew she couldn't hide here her entire life.

She tried a new defense. One that had worked when she was little.

"I love you, Mom."

Elmyra shook her head again. This time the smile was more like a grin. "Good try, Aeris. But that won't excuse how late you were tonight."

Aeris smiled again. "I had to try."

"So what _did_ I hear earlier?" Elmyra asked.

"Oh," Aeris said. "One of the reactors blew up."

"Really?"

Aeris nodded. "I saw it with my own eyes." She paused for a second, the blonde-haired boy in her mind once more. "I think maybe SOLDIER had something to do with it."

"SOLDIER?" Elmyra stammered. "Why in the world would they be involved in the destruction of one of their own Mako reactors?"

"I don't know," Aeris answered. "It was just . . . this boy I talked to."

Elmyra was quickly to her feet. "You talked to one of the SOLDIER's that you think blew up a reactor? Aeris . . ."

Aeris was about to say 'no', but then couldn't be so sure that that wasn't exactly what she had done.

Elmyra continued, "I thought you were done with that lot anyways . . . you know . . . SOLDIER."

"Ma," Aeris said. "Just because I talked with someone doesn't mean I've fallen in love with them."

She then remembered the pull in her chest she had felt walking through Sector 6, thinking of the boy they were currently discussing.

"Fine then," Elmyra said, taking a breath. "Then what did you two talk about?"

Aeris rubbed her chin. "Nothing really . . . just mentioned the reactor." She paused. "Oh, and he bought a flower!"

"Well then . . . what makes you think he had something to do with the explosion?" her mother asked.

Aeris again shook her head. "I don't know . . . I just had this feeling. It was a little . . ." she paused, trying to think of the right word to use in front of her mother. After a moment she finished, "Unsettling . . . it was a little unsettling seeing that strange glow in his eyes."

Elmyra looked as if she wanted to question Aeris more about the events of the night, but ultimately decided against it. "You look tired, honey. Why don't you head upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll bring you some tea in a few minutes."

Realizing that she was very tired indeed, Aeris got to her feet. She also realized that there would be little sleep tonight if her mind continued on the way it had been.

Firmly hugging her mom, she said, "No tea tonight, Ma. I'm just going to head straight to bed." She paused, yawning as she did so. "It's been a long day."

Elmyra nodded. "Alright, honey. Have a good night . . . I'm glad you're home safe."

Kissing her on the cheek Aeris turned and headed up the winding stairs to her room.

_A long day, huh? More like an interesting day._

She opened the door to her room and without turning on the light quietly made her way to her bed.

_Maybe interesting doesn't fit either,_ she thought. _I think I was right earlier when I said 'unsettling'._

She sat down on her bed and closed her eyes.

_Yes . . . unsettling fits best._


	7. 1-7 A Childhood Promise

7. A Childhood Promise

1

As Cloud watched the others run off in various directions towards the hideout he witnessed the first light-hearted connection between people all night. A couple was standing under a dimly lit lamppost. Gazing into each other's eyes and locked hand-in-hand the couple stood quietly, oblivious to everything else. They were consumed by one another. Love in its truest form.

He walked closer to them, hoping they would be saying something sweet, something that would take his mind off of everything that was around him as well as everything that had happened earlier that evening.

But the couple said nothing. They simply looked into each other's gaze.

Cloud realized that even people who found love in a place like this could easily be saddened into the ever-draining feeling of hopelessness. The constant pressure of the warm air seemed enough to bring down your mood, let alone the grim and pitiable surroundings.

He did find his thoughts interrupted slightly by his peculiar encounter with the pretty flower girl. She had looked at him in a way he had never been looked at before.

2

The train that he and the team had arrived on was now departing, heading back to the main station located in the city above. Cloud watched it circle and climb out of sight.

With the station behind him he ran on ahead until he arrived at a fork in the road. He knew that to his left was the direction he would need to go to get back to the hideout. He glanced over in that direction, but decided to check out the right path anyways. He remembered Jessie saying something about one of the upper plate's support structures being that way.

Without even beginning to make his way down the path, he looked up. Low and behold the pillar was in plain sight, and he had just not been observant enough before to see it.

The tower was massive, and to hold up an eighth of a city, he supposed it would have to be. The dull gray color provided the huge rock with a massiveness that made it seem like it hadn't been constructed - that the structure had been naturally formed like this, which perhaps made it look bigger than it really was. A black metal staircase ran along the side of it. The stairs led you to a circular platform, no bigger than a street corner diner. Here you could barely make out the numerous controls and other devices blinking and flickering insistently. The platform was roughly seven hundred feet above the surface, three hundred feet below the plate.

_It's an amazing achievement,_ he thought. _I can't kid myself about that._

Enough to make him jump, Cloud heard a voice almost right beside him. "You come to see it, too?" A man, who by what he was wearing could have easily been identified as a homeless person, walked closer to Cloud and said, "There was a bombing up top." He turned from Cloud and looked up towards the top of the towering structure. "If that pillar were to ever come down . . . everyone in this sector of the slums would be squashed!"

Cloud considered this. "Yeah, that wouldn't be good, but I highly doubt that Shinra would let something like that happen. If that pillar went down so would a good chunk of the city above."

The raggedy man looked back at Cloud and smiled. "Right. No use worrying about that . . . that would never happen." The man looked over Cloud, perhaps trying to figure out why a man in the slums was wearing an old SOLDIER uniform. He asked, "Any idea what happened up there?"

Cloud shook his head. "Sorry . . . no."

The man shrugged and started to walk away. Without turning around to face Cloud he said, "This is a wonderful place, I come here and watch the pillar every night. You're welcome to join me."

Taking another quick glance at the pillar, Cloud said, "Thanks, I just might have to take you up on your offer."

As the man in the tattered clothes walked out of sight Cloud heard a recognizable voice yelling from a good distance away. "Yo, Cloud! Over here, NOW!"

Cloud laughed, knowing that the voice was coming from Barret, and that the gunarmed man was probably agitated at him for taking so long. He took one last look at the structure, and then ran back to the left path, towards the hideout.

3

As he got closer, Cloud could see some action ahead. Barret had run into the Seventh Heaven, the local bar as well as the headquarters of their hideout, and was making a great deal of commotion. After he had chased every customer out, he stood at the entrance and waved in Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie.

This was the main area of Sector 7. The bar - like most homes and small businesses in the area - was a shabby little wooden shack.

Cloud wasn't sure if the setting depressed him more than it repulsed him, or vice-versa.

He surmised that the garbage all about the landscape was either used for property lines or for a bizarre sense of architecture - bizarre for the even the most eccentric slum folk.

The people that Cloud could see from his position resembled every other slum person he had seen. Every last one appeared to be on the brink of starvation, or plagued with some mutinous disease.

Before Cloud realized that he was lingering again, Barret yelled from the bar's steps, "Yo, Cloud! Get your slow-movin' ass in here. Now!" Cloud moved toward the bar, still at a not-so-fast pace, and gave Barret a half smirk. "Aright tough guy, jes go inside," the large man said, returning the smirk to Cloud.

The ex-SOLDIER entered the bar before Barret, and was greeted by a four year old girl in a pink dress. A charming ruby ribbon was weaved into her dark brown hair which almost appeared to be black against her light skin. "Papa!" the girl screamed before realizing that it was Cloud instead. With a scared and embarrassed look on her face, she turned around quickly and ran to the corner.

The bar was a lot nicer once you got inside, which Cloud expected was the same with most of the residences in the area. People didn't mind letting the outside wither away because there wasn't much desire to be outside anyways.

A few round tables were scattered on a floor that consisted of thin wooden boards. A bar stood beyond the last table. To his right an old pinball machine stood angled against the featureless wall. In one corner a plastic plant provided a miniscule amount of green to the dusty yet homely features of the room.

But the nicest sight in the room was not one of these features.

Tifa, the girl that was standing behind the aforementioned bar, as well as the owner of the Seventh Heaven, ran to the little girl that had run away from Cloud. "Marlene, aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" she asked before hugging the girl. She stood upright and turned around, facing Cloud.

She was a different kind of girl in Cloud's eyes - different, but still unimaginably beautiful. Her dark brown hair flowed down her back, well beyond her shoulder blades. Her large brown eyes sparkled with every movement they made. Cloud always thought he could see galaxies within those russet eyes, which only looked all the more beautiful when Tifa smiled that lovely smile of hers.

As she walked towards him he watched her slender little body move with the radiance and grace of a princess, yet there was something that also told you that she was wild – that she could pounce on you if she chose to.

What made her different from other girls Cloud felt he was generally attracted to was her toughness. She was clearly a powerful fighter – her toned arms and legs along with her flat stomach could tell you that - and sometimes a tough girl's personality could frighten men who weren't prepared for it. She was tough, this was certainly true, but on the complete opposite end to her toughness, she was one of the sweetest girls he had ever known, gentle in a way that was impossible to define.

Tifa Lockhart stood smiling in front of him. "Welcome home, Cloud! Looks like everything went well." He nodded and smiled back at her, currently speechless from the sight of her.

_I've only been away from her for a few hours or so,_ he thought, realizing the reaction he was still getting, seeing his childhood friend all grown up now. She had been a beautiful girl then, but she was a beautiful woman now.

Tifa smiled at Cloud's silence, and then asked, "Did you fight with Barret after all? I heard the explosion but I knew how hard he was taking it . . . you know . . . knowing you were in SOLDIER and all."

A word finally got past the lump in his throat. "Yeah." He shrugged awkwardly. "Yeah, we fought."

"I should have known. He's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights ever since you were little." She loosened her smile a little but still looked at him with care. "I was worried." Cloud, again speechless, stood motionless and waited for her to say something. He wanted to speak, but the pain in his head had lurched out from his subconscious again, and he was almost finding it difficult to listen.

"Aww . . . flowers. How nice," Tifa exclaimed.

Almost forgetting that he had any flowers on him, he looked down and saw blue and yellow petals sticking out of the pocket of his pants. He took them out as she said, "You almost never see flowers here in the slums. Um . . . are they for me?"

Glaring at her angelic smile he handed her the flowers - more aggressively then he had intended - and only managed to say, "No big deal."

"Thank you, Cloud. They smell wonderful. Maybe I should fill the whole store with flowers!" She spun around in a circle, causing her lengthy, dark hair to flow out around her pale face.

Pressing his hands against his forehead Cloud willed the headache to lessen up.

To his amazement it did, and he realized how stupid he must look.

_Relax. You need to relax._

Before this week he hadn't seen her in five years. He needed to act casual around her. He needed to loosen up.

Awkwardly he made an attempt to hug her, but Tifa was already turning around and heading in the opposite direction.

Cloud took a quick glance at the other members of the team sitting at a nearby table, and from the look on their faces he knew they had witnessed his ill-at-ease performance from the start.

Tifa had walked over to Marlene to show her the flowers.

Cloud smiled.

_Alright, it's time to start over. It's time to really just chill out._

He approached the table that the trio of rebels were sitting at, drinking and talking, and stood by Biggs. Biggs glanced up and smiled at him. "Oh, Cloud! Tifa really knows how to cook." He rubbed his belly. "She always lets me taste her cooking, and look at me now, all roly-poly!" Cloud laughed and Biggs continued, "I dunno if I should be happy or sad! But it's good food and drinks that make the Seventh Heaven famous in the slums."

Cloud overheard Jessie talking to herself. She looked very deep in thought and perhaps even concerned. "You're getting careless," she said to herself. "Just excited I suppose . . . I wonder what for." She looked up at Cloud and they both quickly avoided eye contact with each other.

Saving Cloud from any awkwardness, Wedge slapped him on the back and said, "Ahh! Nothin' like the first drink after a job." He hiccupped and continued, "You should have one too!"

"No thanks, I'm all set."

With a half angry tone, Wedge slammed his bottle down and questioned, "Why not? You tellin' me you too good to have a drink wit' me?"

Cloud felt the aggressive tickle in his head and knew the headache was coming on again.

Wedge continued, "Listen, jes because you were in SOLDIER doesn't mean you're better than me."

Cloud clenched his fist, but decided it was best to take a step back and let it pass. Wedge was obviously not himself.

Biggs and Jessie seemed to understand this as well, rolling their eyes and laughing amongst themselves at Wedge's expense.

After another chug of the drink, Wedge said, "You're still a rookie here, so ya better listen to whatever I tell ya!"

Realizing how ridiculous Wedge was acting Cloud looked at Biggs and laughed along with him.

They all heard Barret coming in, his usual abundance of noise giving him away.

Wedge, slopping alcohol down the front of his shirt, said with a more decent, apologetic voice, "Um . . . yeah sorry. Please don't tell Barret anything I just said."

Cloud shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry about it. I would never go against the word of someone so obviously better than me." They both laughed, and then Wedge stood up and pushed his drink aside . . . for now.

4

Barret crashed into the room with his big, bad self, only to show Cloud his soft side. Marlene ran to him with open arms, this time finding the person she had been looking for. The large man lifted her up onto his shoulder and admired the feeling of his love for her.

Marlene shouted, "Welcome home, Papa!"

Tifa would later explain that a few years ago Barret's friend Dyne Ridgeback, who was also Marlene's real father, had died roughly four years ago. Marlene's mother had also died not long before Dyne. Barret had taken care of the little girl ever since and had grown to love Marlene as if she were his own daughter.

Barret looked at her, and in a childish voice that surprised Cloud even more said, "Thank you my darling."

Tifa grinned at the sight and asked, "You alright, Barret?"

"I'm great! Couldn't be better if I tried right now." He hugged Marlene before placing her back on his shoulder again. He looked at his team. "Aright guys! We're startin' the meeting!" He walked to the opposite side of the room where the out-of-order pinball machine was located. He pushed the button that would normally control the 'left' paddle, and revealed that the whole contraption was a hidden elevator. As he descended, Marlene cheered. When they heard the elevator hit the bottom, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all ran over and jumped down to join their leader.

Cloud had started to make his way over when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Tifa behind the bar.

"Going down already?" Tifa asked, a barely noticeable wink in her eye. Cloud shrugged and slowly made his way over to the bar when she offered, "Why don't ya have a seat?" He sat down and took in a deep breath - a relaxing breath. "How 'bout something to drink?" she asked.

Cloud crunched his face and looked up at her. "Nah . . . I don't feel like it." He took his chance to recover from earlier. "My head's been bothering me a lot lately . . . probably why I've been acting so strange."

Putting the glass she had taken down back on the shelf, Tifa asked, "Oh . . . is that what's been going on?" When he nodded she feigned for the glass again. "You sure? I can make a drink as good as anyone else. Everyone says my drinks are the best!"

Not trying to hurt her feelings he said, "It's not that. I've just had a long night, haven't had action like that in a while."

"I see. Well you know . . . I am relieved you made it back safely. And you do seem better now. I won't lie and say I didn't think you were acting strange this past week. But that explains all of the head-holding."

"So you noticed, huh?" he questioned, feeling embarrassed and even somewhat angry at himself . . . maybe even at her.

"Well, yeah," Tifa said. "I mean, I find you all beat up and holding your head like it was full of wasps or something . . . and you don't even mention what it was that happened to you."

Cloud tried to recover. "I hadn't seen you in five years . . . other things were on my mind." And there it was - the throb was back in full-force. He made a move to grab for his head but reluctantly kept his hands on his lap.

"Five years, huh?" Tifa asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah," Cloud stammered. "A long time . . ."

Tifa stared at him in such a way that he quickly became uncomfortable.

_Maybe things have changed more than I thought._

Tifa blushed, shook her head, and smiled. "Don't worry about it . . . and I'm sorry I pushed. Regardless of any of that, I'm glad you're back safe."

Still feeling the pain as well as the rush of anger running through him, Cloud snapped, "Huh? What do you mean? That wasn't even a tough job, Tifa."

"I guess not," she said putting the drink mixes away. She seemed to realize that she had made him angry. "I mean, you were in SOLDIER."

Cloud only sat blankly staring at her, his hands now clutching his head. She was beginning to think that things had changed too, but she also knew that there was something else involved with this that she was missing. She was again about to ask about his headaches, but thought better of it. Instead she turned away and said, "Make sure you get your pay from Barret."

"Oh don't you worry," he said sharply. "Once I get that gil, I'm outta here." He stood up from the bar and again made his way to the pinball machine/elevator.

Feeling a significant proportion of nostalgic hurt coursing through her, Tifa ran to him, stopped him, and asked, "Are you feeling alright . . . like, really alright?"

Cloud had barely heard her. He had yet again been focusing on ridding his tired brain of the aching twinge. "I'm sorry, Tifa . . . what?"

"Are you okay?" she questioned. "All this business with your head . . . it's really scaring me. You don't seem yourself."

Cloud sighed a breath of relief. He'd done it - the pain in his head was gone. With a steady smile he took Tifa's hand, feeling tremendously better, and smiled. He could tell his new expression was contagious, because Tifa had slowly started to smile as well.

"I'm sorry, Tifa," he said, now feeling perfectly fine. "Come on . . . don't I look okay? The same as the Cloud from your past?"

Tifa nodded. "Yeah," she whispered. Pulling her hand from his she said, "You just look a little tired I guess." She turned away and walked back to the bar and sat on one of the seven barstools. "You'd better go down below."

Cloud nodded his head and walked over to the pinball machine. He flicked the switch and started his trip down. Looking back he saw that Tifa was still looking at him. He could see pain in her eyes, an infinitesimal amount, but pain nonetheless.

He couldn't figure out why she'd have such a look on her face. He was fine, wasn't he?

5

Soon Tifa was out of sight and he was entering the hideout area. It looked more or less like every other hideout area he had ever seen before, the only difference being that this one was crammed into a small room under a bar.

There was a TV on one side of the room, chalk board on the other, a square table in the center with four red chairs, and a computer diagonal from a punching bag that Barret was currently punching.

Besides this there was a grungy sink inside of a grungier bathroom, and five cots with camouflaged sheets on them. One guess would tell you which of the cots belonged to the hulking leader and which ones were for the others.

They all seemed to be doing their own thing at the moment. Perhaps they had been waiting for him to get down there.

He walked over to Biggs who seemed to be hard at work, thinking about something or the other. He was sitting around the center table, and when he saw Cloud he looked up and asked, "Do you think I'm a little too uptight?"

Cloud smiled. "I haven't really known you very long. But no, I haven't gotten that impression from you."

Unconvinced, Biggs said, "Well that's okay if you do. I don't look like it, but I'm a coward at heart." He took a sip of some of the water sitting in a tall glass in front of him. "For the next mission we're gonna blow up the Sector 5 reactor. And even though we were successful with the last bombing, I'm still really nervous!" Cloud could see that this was true; Biggs' hands were visibly shaking. The rotund man took another sip of water and continued, "You're great though . . . you don't ever get nervous do you?" He laughed. "You're like, impervious to feelings or something, right?"

Cloud didn't have a response to that. "Whatever you say, Biggs."

Behind them Jessie had turned the TV on and was yelling with delight about the news that was being covered on every channel. She was also working on the sole computer in the room, looking at the designs from the bomb she had built for the reactor.

"Hey, look at the news . . . what a blast!" she screamed excitedly. "Think it was all because of my bomb? All I really did was follow the instructions that the computer gave me. I must've made a miscalculation somewhere though . . . one that proved to be beneficial."

Cloud thought this last comment was somewhat awkward, seeing as each of them had been emotionally impacted by all of the extra deaths that had occurred earlier in the night.

Still appearing unfazed, Jessie again looked at the TV. "Oh, oh, everyone listen up! Public Enemy Number One is about to bless us with his infinite wisdom and courage."

President Felix Shinra, wearing his patented and terrible- looking crimson suit, sat stiffly in the middle of the screen, his blonde hair and thick moustache framing his reddening face. His chubby fingers could be seen holding a pre-planned speech that he was about to read.

"'Today the No. 1 reactor was bombed. The terrorist group AVALANCHE has claimed responsibility for the bombing. It is expected that AVALANCHE will continue its reign of terror.'"

The team all shouted with joy.

"'But citizens of Midgar . . . there is no need to fear. I have immediately mobilized SOLDIER to protect our citizenry against this senseless violence. Thank you, and goodnight.'"

The team all booed. Jessie shut it off as the normal anchorman returned to the center of the screen.

The rattling in the room, caused by Barret's repetitive hitting of the punching bag, came to an abrupt stop. He looked over at Cloud. "Yo, Cloud! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya." Cloud looked over at him, showing that he was paying attention. "Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us tonight?"

Without hesitation, Cloud answered, "None, I'm positive."

Barret coughed and raised his dark eyebrows. "You sound pretty damn sure."

Cloud remarked, "If there was anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today you wouldn't be standing here now."

Barret clenched his fist and slammed it into the swinging bag before hollering, "Don't go thinkin' you so bad jes cuz you was in SOLDIER!" He appeared to aim his gunarm at the punching bag, but instead slammed the bag hard with his fist again. "Yeah, you're strong, prolly all them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget, your skinny ass is working for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hanging on to Shinra."

Having a nerve hit and once again feeling the throb creep back into his head, Cloud yelled back, "Staying with the Shinra!? You asked me a question and I answered it, asshole. That's all!" He turned his back to him and made his way back to the elevator, now feeling worse than he had all night. He faced Barret again and yelled, "I'm going upstairs. I wanna talk about my gil."

Barret punched the bag again and said, "Shit! Gil, gil, gil." He shook his head in disgust. "Is that all that's important to you, Cloud? Gil?" Before Cloud had a chance to retort, Barret added, "Besides the Shinra, of course. We all got that already . . ."

Blazing, Cloud turned towards the elevator again but was interrupted as Tifa jumped down from above. She put both hands on his arm. "Wait, Cloud."

Seeing the pain in Tifa's eyes actually almost made him change his mind. Seeing that look made him feel like doing anything that would somehow hurt her was the most terrible thing he could possibly do.

That was until Barret started speaking again.

Barret looked past Cloud and directly at Tifa. Grimly, he said, "Tifa . . . let him go. Looks like this punk still misses the Shinra . . ."

Cloud, even more aggravated, his head pulsing like an amplified and racing heart, forgot all about the tender look in Tifa's eyes and screamed, "Shut up! I don't care about either Shinra or SOLDIER!" He swung his arm wildly through the air. "But don't get me wrong, I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter either." In a fit of rage he screamed and then climbed up the pole that was connected to the elevator device, not even waiting for the elevator itself to take him up.

6

As soon as he reached the top he heard the elevator begin to rise, and he immediately knew who was coming after him. He knew that she would have been the only person that wouldn't give up on him. Later on he would realize how true this really was. He would realize that she would _never_ give up on him.

Tifa, with sadness in her eyes that he did not want to see, ran to him and put her hands on his arm again. The room felt warm, and everything around them was eerily silent. She looked him in his blue-green eyes with desperation. "Please, Cloud. I'm asking you. Please join us."

Shrugging his shoulders he shook his head and looked back at her. "Sorry, Tifa."

"The Planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying." Her tone changed from desperation to determination. "Someone has to do something about it."

"So let Barret and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothin' to do with me, Tifa." He turned again and headed for the door.

"So . . . you're really leaving!?" She stomped her foot on the floor, a trait she had most likely picked up having seen Barret do it thirty times a day. "You're just going to walk right out, ignoring your childhood friend!?"

He slowed down, his pulsating head slumping down to his chest. "Listen, Tifa. I'm sorry."

Just as he reached the door, Tifa whispered, "You forgot the promise, too."

He slowly turned around, a puzzled look on his tired face. "Promise?"

"So you did forget . . ."

There was a moment where both of them stood still, staring hard into each other's eyes. Somehow everything seemed to be darkening around them.

Still staring, Tifa continued, "Remember, Cloud, it was seven years ago . . ." He listened to what she said as she described the courtyard of their old hometown, Nibelheim, and started remembering. They both closed their eyes, picturing the old well that had sat in the center of the courtyard. It was a starry night.

"Look, the well. Do you remember?" Tifa asked softly.

He did remember. He remembered the well, the sky, and the frigid air making its way through his body. "Yeah . . . back then," he whispered back to her. "I thought you would never come, I was getting a little cold."

With their eyes shut tight they both recalled that night in Nibelheim at the well.

7

Cloud, fourteen now and almost grown up in his own eyes, started getting cold as he sat on the well cover. While he waited he swung his legs back and forth in hopes of warming himself up a bit. After a while he started to doubt that she would even come at all.

The sky was beautiful, but the chill in the air was bitter this time of the year. He should have known she wasn't going to show up.

But just before he gave up and walked home, he heard a voice say, "Sorry I'm late." Tifa, sporting a teal dress and matching shoes, didn't have quite as much hair as she would have later, but still had a fair amount. Nor was she as physically fit as she would be either, but she certainly was still very tough looking, most likely from all the running around her and her friends had always done since they were little.

Cloud gazed up at her. She was beautiful.

Tifa sat down next to him and said, "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

He sighed. "Come this spring, I'm leaving this town for Midgar."

Tifa didn't seem fazed. "Yeah . . . all the boys are leaving town."

He spoke louder, firmer. "But I'm different from all of them. I'm not just going to find a job." He stood up. "I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is . . . just like Sephiroth!" Cloud could feel the excitement pulsing inside of himself just by talking about it.

Tifa widened her eyes. "Sephiroth . . . the Great Sephiroth." Cloud climbed up to the top of the well and started looking at the stars. She looked up at him. "Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?"

"I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while." Tifa's face soured. She turned away from him and lowered her shoulders. Confused, Cloud asked, "Huh? What's wrong?"

Without turning to face him she questioned, "Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?"

"I'll try," he said proudly.

She stood up and faced him, a small smile on her face. "Hey, why don't we make a promise?" Seeing the puzzled look on his face she continued, "Umm . . . if you get really famous, and I'm ever in a bind, you'll come and save me. Alright?"

Still perplexed, he asked, "What?"

"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to experience that at least once in my life." She laughed.

". . . What?"

"Oh, Cloud! Come on, just promise me!"

"Alright, alright . . . I promise." He looked up at the starry night sky again, and whether it was his mind playing tricks on him or not, he thought he saw a shooting star. He looked down at Tifa. He didn't really want to leave her. He didn't want to let her down. He decided to try as hard as he could to do well, so that he could come and see her when he was famous – when he had made First Class in SOLDIER.

8

They both opened their eyes. The room didn't feel so warm anymore. Thinking about the old times seemed to calm the mood that had been suffocating them before.

Tifa was the first to speak. "You remember now? Seven years ago . . . our promise."

Cloud whined, "I'm not a hero and I'm not famous. I can't keep the promise." He found himself fidgeting, slightly uncomfortable. But more importantly his head had cleared while they had been talking about their memory together.

Tifa grabbed for his hand. "But you got your childhood dream, didn't you? You joined SOLDIER!" Cloud looked down at his feet but she continued, "So come on! You've got to keep your promise."

Before Cloud could say anything he saw Barret to his right, climbing up the elevator pole. He looked at Cloud and yelled, "Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER! A promise is a promise!" He winked at Tifa and threw Cloud a bag containing his pay - fifteen hundred gil.

Tifa smiled at Barret, then said to Cloud, "So if you're going to keep your promise you've gotta stay around here, just in case I get myself into a bind some time or another."

Cloud looked at Barret, and then back at Tifa. He held up the gil and joked, "This is my pay? Don't make me laugh."

Tifa held her arms out in hopeful expectation. "Wait! Then you'll . . ." She hugged him.

He grinned. "You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for three thousand."

Tifa jumped for joy but Barret's eyes widened as he screamed, "What!? Three thousand!? You gotta be shittin' me!"

Tifa hastily ran to him and whispered, "It's okay. It's okay. We're really hurting for help, right?"

"Uhh . . ." Barret said aloud before whispering back to her, "That gil's for Marlene's schoolin'." He turned to Cloud and stomped his massive foot. "Two thousand, hot shot!"

Cloud accepted with a nod of his head. Tifa quickly ran back to him, her arms spread wide. While she was hugging him, she whispered, "Thanks, Cloud."

And like the shooting star back when they were kids, along with the explosion of the Mako reactor just hours before, her smile lit up the night sky.


	8. 1-8 Getting the Point Across

8. Getting the Point Across

1

Tseng Stehr entered the conference room on the 66th floor of the Shinra building, a few of his subordinate Turks following close behind him.

The subject of the occasion became apparent when he saw the grainy image of Aeris Gainsborough displayed on the far wall.

"Shit . . ." he heard Reno Joolston, the red-haired Turk beside him, whisper.

Tseng sighed, looking up from his neatly-pressed navy blue suit, and made a subtle gesture to the younger Turk, silencing him. "Let them dish it," Tseng said, his thin eyes staring at Reno. "If she's been sighted once again up on the plate there's nothing you can do but take it."

"But . . ." Reno began, shifting the Shinra-logoed headband he donned.

Cutting him off, Tseng interjected, "But nothing . . . I expect you to keep your mouth shut."

As Tseng expected, Reno nodded and stood quietly. He had always responded very coolly to tension, and Tseng liked that. To be a Turk meant not only that you had to be in top, physical shape, but that you acted like a professional within all circumstances.

_Besides,_ he thought, staring at the flower girl half a block away from the ruined Mako reactor, _he deserves whatever punishment he gets. He's had more than enough time to capture her._

He took a seat in one of the maroon chairs that surrounded the rectangular desk that sat in the middle of the room. He stole a quick glance at the potted plant that sat in the corner. It appeared to have died years ago, but for some reason no one had bothered to remove it.

_Probably why this room always smells,_ he thought, wrinkling his nose while scratching at his beardless chin.

Turning back from the decaying remains of the potted plant he saw for the first time that there was another picture displayed on the wall next to the one of Aeris Gainsborough.

In a separate photograph he saw one of the infamous canyon creatures. Most of the species had died out as far as Tseng knew, but this fiery-red thing seemed to be alive and well.

Tseng could not find a connection between the flower girl of Midgar and the lion-like creature of Cosmo Canyon, but while he was trying to puzzle it out he slowly realized that the Turks had not been called to this meeting simply to watch Reno get scolded for the ninth or tenth time. Perhaps there were new stakes in the epic poker game that the Shinra constantly found themselves playing in.

2

In had now been a few minutes since the group of Turks had entered, and besides some pointless chitchat with a few newcomers that were anxious to find out what they were there for, the room had been silent.

Reno stirred in his chair, turning away from the grainy photo of the flower girl. "I could be out continuing the search if they didn't have me cooped up in this nauseating room."

Tseng could only shrug his shoulders and silently agree. They had been waiting there a while, and if Heidegger had planned on gathering them so that he could holler and push forward the issue and importance of the mission, he would have been there and gone already.

Just before the door to the conference room opened, Tseng found himself looking at the canyon creature once again, gradually figuring out that Dorian Hojo had to have something to do with this.

Because of the Shinra's head scientist's eccentric nature and visibly emotional connection to the experiments he conducted, Hojo had been given a vast amount of leeway.

This confused Tseng to an extent, because the last head scientist, Dr. Simon Gast, had also been given a fair amount of leeway, and he had eventually tried to flee from the Shinra with one of the original test subjects.

_Or as Hojo calls them – his 'precious specimens',_ he thought, feeling a slight, spidery chill wiggle up his spine.

Tseng knew Dr. Gast had done wonders for Shinra, and had helped shape them into the dominating power they were today . . . but how could the President not learn from his father's mistakes?

If Tseng himself, or any of the other Turks, had ever kept the President – or any of the other higher-ups – waiting as long and as often as Hojo did, that said person would find themselves hanging by their neck outside the front entrance of the building.

_Or shot by one of my men . . ._

Now, as the door crept open, they all watched Hojo shuffle in to the conference room, slightly hunched, and with his customary expressionless face.

Tseng glanced at Reno, and the two read on each other's faces that they both understood something was up.

_And if something's up . . . then something's going down._

3

Hojo made an almost unidentifiable nod towards Tseng, and then walked over to the screen displaying the targeted specimens.

"Hello," he said thinly, as he put his long, black hair up into a ponytail. "I don't have a lot of time . . . I currently am up to my elbows with this new specimen of mine. But the President wanted me to take some time to explain a recent addition added to the task list of the Turks."

"An addition?" Tseng questioned.

Hojo waved his hand, shaking off the interruption. "Please remain silent. I went out of my way to make sure that that oaf Heidegger wasn't available to be here for this explanation because I want it to be short and to the point." He looked from the displayed images and then to Reno. "Although you certainly are taking your time in finding the specimen."

Reno shifted in his seat, but to his credit kept his mouth shut.

Hojo again continued, this time to the entire group, "As you all know, I've had a few of the Turks spying for me within Cosmo Canyon." He pointed to the lion-like creature. "This thing - which from now on will be referred to as 'Red XIII' – is, as far as I know, the very last of its kind." He brushed a few loose hairs away from his rimmed spectacles. "Both of these pictures show us the last members of two unique, and more importantly, dying, species."

Tseng asked, "So where do we come in?"

Briefly closing his eyes, Hojo replied, "Your main objective is simple, and quite similar to the objective you were given before. You are to find and capture both of these specimens, and then bring them to me. I have an experiment planned that will not only benefit the Shinra but will also lend a helping hand to two dying species."

Hojo could see the confusion written across each of their faces. He knew no one would ever be able to comprehend the mammoth ideas constantly circulating through his mind.

"The capture of the specimens," he continued, "is of the upmost importance and is essential to the President's master plan." He took a breath, realizing that he needed to get back to his laboratory. "Having these two will help us a great deal in the long run."

Tseng cleared his throat. "How are we supposed to catch both of these . . . specimens . . . if we haven't yet been able to ascertain even one of them?" He saw the solemn look on Reno's face and continued, "I have full confidence in my men, but you know that there's more at play here than just dumb luck that's been helping the girl evade us for so long."

Hojo shrugged, staring sinisterly at Tseng. "Mr. Stehr . . . how you do what you do does not concern me." He took a few steps closer to the leader of the Turks. "But if you fail in finding the specimens soon . . . I will personally ensure that each and every one of you ends up in a locked room with my current specimen – which is turning out to be quite violent in its own . . . biological . . . way."

Tseng opened his mouth to speak, but appeared to have thought better of it.

Glancing at his wristwatch, Hojo said, "I'm out of time . . ." As he walked towards the door, wrinkling his nose at the peculiar stench in the room, he glanced back and said, "You get paid well to do your job, so do it right." Just before he vanished out of view he stared hard into Tseng's face. "Do it right . . . or I will have you fed to one of my precious specimens . . ."

Feeling a dour grin slowly crawl onto his face he turned around and walked down the hall and out of sight, leaving the Turks visibly shaken.

_Perhaps that will finally get them to get their act together._

Turning down the hall he entered the nearest elevator and began to climb up one floor to his laboratory.


	9. 1-9 Assault on Mako Reactor No 5

9. Assault on Mako Reactor No. 5

1

Tifa came awake early in the morning, enclosed in the darkness of the small backroom of the bar. Beside her she could hear Marlene's hushed breathing, so she stealthily stood up from her thin mattress and made her way out of the room.

"Morning," she heard as soon as she stepped out of the backroom. She looked up and saw Biggs struggling to fit a Shinra guard uniform over his portly torso. When his head finally poked through the shirt's opening he said, "You sleep alright?"

Tifa yawned, and then lied, "Yeah . . ."

She couldn't have gotten more than an hour or two, what with her mind reeling from the previous day's events. Even when Cloud had finally agreed to join their cause – which meant he would ultimately be sticking around for at least a little while longer – Tifa found herself thinking about the curious way Cloud had been acting the past week.

_Curious?_ she thought. _More like odd. It _has_ been a long time but even a week ago when I first saw him at the train station I barely recognized him. And it wasn't his appearance . . . it was the odd way he was carrying him, the way he was acting and clutching at his head. And all of those injuries . . ._

But for every hour she had spent worrying about Cloud's physical state, she had spent two hours worrying about his mental state.

_Something is definitely wrong. One minute he's talking and acting like there's nothing amiss, and then a second later he's fuming, taking his aggression out on whoever is in his path. And five years,_ she thought. _Five years . . . what the heck was that about?_

Of course, that had been a traumatizing time for her, back in her hometown. It was allowable to forget – or maybe block out – troubled memories.

_The ones I do remember from that time are bad enough._

Everyone but Cloud had gathered in the room now, and Tifa was watching Barret talk to his trio of heroes, but she couldn't hear him. Her mind was more concerned with the boy from her past. A boy named Cloud Strife.

She considered riding the elevator down to the hideout den to see if Cloud was alright, but thought better of it, knowing that Barret or one of the others would be getting him up soon anyways.

"I'm going to take a quick shower," she said, and was acknowledged by a thumbs-up gesture from Wedge.

Grabbing a towel she made her way outside, and then around to the back of the wooden structure that served as her home. She crossed her fingers, hoping that one of the three shower stalls would be vacant, knowing that she didn't have a ton of time.

Barret could get quite grouchy, and this morning he was again exceedingly anxious because of the upcoming mission.

_He still doesn't want me to go this time,_ she thought, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw an open shower stall ahead of her. _He's probably only allowing me to tag along because I'm letting him and the others work and live out of my basement._

She didn't care why though. She only knew that she wouldn't feel right unless she could keep an eye on Cloud at all times. Barret had told her that if the first bombing went off without a hitch, she could partake in the second, and then and only then would she know how Cloud was really doing.

As she stripped off her clothes and placed them in the plastic bag that hung just beyond the reach of the dripping water she recalled how terrible the hours had been last evening when the others were all up top and she had been cooped up in the bar, serving the regular slum crowd. There had been more than a few moments where she had imagined her anxious heart thumping so fast in her chest that she felt she would pass out.

She looked up and wished that she could shower in a real facility.

_It's been so long since I've had a real shower._

Instead she stood under what was essentially a leaky pipe that dripped excess water from the plate above.

As she soaked her lengthy, dark hair under the water, feeling the added water weight press down on her naked skin, she remembered to occasionally glance in the direction of the stall's flimsy door. She was a young, pretty girl and her acceptance of that forced her to understand her place in the slums long ago.

People were constantly gawking at the voluminous area between her neck and her tiny waist, catcalling at her from afar, or simply looking in her direction and then whispering to their friends, each of their eyes glazed over, their faces red.

No one had ever dared make too strong of a move on her however. They knew how powerful she was. Many had witnessed that raw power when a customer at her bar had made an attempt to pinch her as she was bending over. At the moment she had felt someone's finger touching her she had whipped around and crushed the imposing hand, sending eggshell-cracking echoes around the shadowy room.

She rinsed some of the public shampoo from her hair, took another glance to make sure she didn't have any peeping visitors, and then glanced down at her shimmering and wet nude form.

_Doesn't look like anything special to me,_ she thought, although in her heart she knew that she was pretty, even with the large, jagged scar that sliced down across her chest. She just wished that more people could see her for what she was and not just for her looks. _That's probably why I began taking martial arts lessons._

Even then she had noticed the boys in town paying special attention to her slender form and ever-growing features.

_Cloud hadn't been like that . . ._

She smiled and stepped out of the water before reaching for her towel.

As she dried off she found her thoughts drifting to Cloud once again, and of their conversation they had had last night.

_That night on the well,_ she thought, but shook her head. _No . . . who really knew how we both felt then. It's been seven years, and many things have changed._

Content with the knowledge that she would at least be able to keep an eye on Cloud today she began to dress and then headed back to the bar.

2

Cloud woke up alone, still on his small cot in the hideout. Yawning, with his eyes gradually adjusting to the vivid light, he sat up and made his way over to the elevator.

He hadn't had what he would call a good night's sleep . . . but it would suffice.

Stretching his stiff neck he looked up and heard the others walking around above him. He stepped onto the platform and rode it up into the main section of the bar, realizing that he had been the only one that had still been sleeping.

Barret and Tifa were standing by, watching Marlene walk along the countertop of the bar. Tifa looked at Cloud, her dark hair visibly wet, and enthusiastically said, "Good morning, Cloud. Did you sleep well?"

He yawned and stared at her, wondering if her tone was genuine. He decided that regardless he was going to start today off on the right foot. He replied, "Well . . . Barret's snoring kept me up." Barret looked up from the other end of the bar, having heard his name.

Tifa tittered. "Hey now, keep it down, he'll hear you. Barret's always very edgy before an operation."

"Yeah, alright," Cloud said. "And how did you sleep?"

Tifa shrugged. "You know . . . more or less the same as usual."

Cloud eyed her for a moment and then went and sat down next to Barret. Marlene, still tiptoeing across the counter, smiled and gave him a high five, the slap's volume ricocheting off of the thin walls.

"Everything still going as planned?" Cloud asked.

Barret nodded. "Seems so. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie are already in the stolen Shinra uniforms, making their way to the train."

Cloud turned around towards Tifa just as she said, "I'm going this time." He glanced at her, questioningly, and then glanced at Barret to see how he reacted to her statement.

Barret didn't seem the least bit worried for her sake, although Cloud noted a miniscule clench of the big man's fist.

Cloud said, "Tifa, are you . . ."

"I'll be fine," she said quickly.

Barret took a breath and put his good arm around Cloud's neck. "Our target is the Sector 5 reactor. Head for the station first." Knowing that Cloud was about to ask for more in-depth details he added, "I'll fill you in on the train." He then got up and began to load his gunarm.

"There's some oatmeal," Tifa said to Cloud. "But you better eat it quick. I think the train leaves pretty soon."

Cloud nodded. "I slept a little later than I thought I would." He took a quick glance at the sordid-looking oatmeal and winced. "I'm not really that hungry actually. I'll just grab something after the mission."

Jumping to his feet, Barret yelled, "Alright! We all set then. Let's head out!"

Without waiting for Cloud or Tifa the large man stormed out of the bar.

"What about Marlene?" Cloud asked, looking at the young girl.

Tifa answered, "She stays with a family down the row whenever we all go out and she can't come with us." She picked up Marlene and put her gently down on the floor. "Grab a few toys and then head over to Johnny's, okay?"

Marlene smiled. "Alright, Tifa." She then hugged Tifa's legs and said, "Be careful . . . and come back safe." After releasing Tifa the girl grabbed a raggedy doll that was sitting on one of the barstools and then sped out of the bar.

Tifa rolled her eyes and then turned to Cloud. "I'm just going to go outside and make sure she gets there. I'll meet you and the others on the train."

Cloud nodded and then slowly walked out and into the area. The weather was the same as it had been every other day.

He glanced up at the huge plate, and then thought, _The slums are pretty much weather-proof with that huge thing always over head._

Before he had time to take in any more of the grungy sights a man with red hair and a fake leather jacket ran up to him. Cloud didn't know him, but the man spoke to him as if they had been previously acquainted. "Hello . . . Tifa's friend." When Cloud didn't respond the man shrugged and continued, "I'm leaving. Goin' far away. But when I come back, I'll be a better man! This is goodbye."

Cloud noticed that others were listening as well, looking equally as baffled by the red-haired man's rant.

The jacketed man continued, "And by the way, _childhood friend_, you better take good care of Tifa!" He then ran off, leaving Cloud with perhaps the most confused and bewildered look on his face that he had ever had.

_What the hell was that about?_

He looked to the other two people in the area, searching for some kind of explanation.

As if reading Cloud's mind, one said, "Don't ya worry about him . . . always been a bit touched." He turned to the other man. "I still can't believe he up and left. Johnny's been talking about leaving for a while now . . . never thought he'd do it."

"You look a little disappointed," the other man said.

"I don't like to say it to myself," the first man continued, "but I'm just a lonely guy when I'm not drinking. Johnny was a lot of fun to have around sometimes, even though he started acting differently after he failed to make it into SOLDIER."

"How long ago was that?"

"Hmm . . . let's see . . . must've been seven years ago by now." He paused, deep in thought. "Maybe five, who can be sure? I just hope he doesn't get hurt, that's what worries me the most." He walked over to Cloud, who was still currently frozen with confusion. "Yesterday," the man explained, "everyone in town was peeking at the two of you from outside of the bar."

The other man laughed. "Tifa's 'childhood friend' . . . that's a good one! Original . . . one of the best lines I've heard in years. I wish I had thought of a line like that to use on her . . . all I ever did was stare."

Cloud gave the man a hard look, and then took an intimidating step towards him.

The man stopped talking about Tifa and went back to talking about Johnny, fear glossing his eyes. "Anyways . . . now that Johnny Firnock's gone I ain't got no one to pick on," he finished lamely.

The other, with a loss of hope written on his face, said, "He used to give us nothing but headaches when he was here, but now that he's gone, I kind of miss him." He whispered to himself, "Strange, isn't it?"

Cloud began to walk away toward the train station, knowing full-well that if he had to endure anymore of that conversation that one of his headaches would soon begin to surface, when he heard an old man call for him on a nearby porch. Rolling his eyes he muttered, "What now?"

Cloud looked to his left and walked over to the older man. "Listen, boy. Do you know if my son Johnny's left yet?" Behind the man Cloud saw Marlene sitting on the floor, playing with the raggedy doll she had took.

Cloud nodded. "I believe so . . ."

_What the hell is it about this Johnny guy,_ he thought, feeling something within the mess of his mind hiding beneath the surface. _Johnny . . . do I know him?_

The man continued, "When it's just my wife and I here, you have no idea how lonesome it gets. Marlene doesn't get to come here often."

Cloud, realizing that he didn't want to be late for another train, and truly not caring about Johnny or his lonely parents, started to walk away.

_I don't know that idiot or his parents,_ he thought. _The only thing I know is that all of these people are giving me a headache._

And that was true . . . the ache in his head was slight, but it was certainly present.

Just before he got out of hearing range he heard something that made all of the morning's random events well worthwhile.

Johnny's mother had come outside, holding Marlene in her arms, and said, "I just hope he does something good for himself . . . and that he stays away from those damn strip clubs."

Cloud laughed out loud, something he hadn't done in a very long time. The warm feeling brought by the laughter flooded his body, erasing the headache, and made him feel better than he had in quite a while.

Picking up his pace he reached the fork in the road in a few minutes, and then shortly after reached the train station itself. Everything still looked the same, garbage festering in all directions. The only difference Cloud noticed was that the couple he had seen by the lamppost the previous night was no longer standing. They were sleeping together on a busted bench.

As he ran to get onto the train he noticed that the man was awake. He looked happy, holding the girl under the dim brilliance of the lamppost.

_Today is going to be a better day,_ Cloud thought.

He passed a lot of people walking around the platform of the train station, all going about their business. None of them so much as glanced at him, which was perfectly fine with him.

Nodding his head to the trainman that was standing just outside one of the many doors, Cloud entered the train that would take him and the others up to the plate.

3

Barret stood just beyond the entrance, looking overly anxious and excited. When Cloud entered he said, "Hey, this ain't no private car, so only you, Tifa, and me will be on this one."

The two of them walked further into the train where they saw Tifa already sitting down on a seat. She stood up when she saw Barret come in.

A familiar voice said aloud, referring to Barret and the team, "Ugh! Hoodlums again. Gods, I just don't have any luck."

Barret glared at the well-dressed man in the burgundy suit that had also been on the train the previous night. The only noticeable difference about the man was the name tag he had displayed on his red jacket.

It read:

**Shinra Manager**

Barret yelled, "You say somethin'? I said . . . you say somethin'!?" A majority of the passengers, hearing the commotion, timidly got up and left the car, entering a different one. Barret walked over to the Manager and said, "Yo, look at that! It got empty alluva sudden." He peered around the car. "What's goin' on? You tryin' to pull somethin'!? Whatcha up to, fool!?"

Nervously the well-dressed man responded with chattering lips, "Damn . . . I . . . uh, it's empty because of . . . guh . . . guys like you." Barret stared harder at him and then put his gunarm up to the man's head. The man cried out, "Ahh! Okay!" A thick layer of sweat beaded on the man's forehead, his eyes were open so wide that they appeared to be ready to drop out of his head. "You . . . you've seen the news, right? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings! Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like today." He pointed to the name tag on his jacket. Looking back and forth between the gun and Barret's eyes he said, "I . . . I won't . . . I won't give in to violence." The man repeated this over and over again, as if he was a malfunctioning robot.

Tifa saw Barret place the barrel of the gun closer to the man's head and screamed, "Barret! NO!"

Barret immediately pulled his gunarm back and walked away. He looked back at the man and loud enough to startle him again yelled, "Damn! You lucky piece of shit!" He walked back to Tifa and Cloud.

Cloud stood still, amazed at the dedication and the pure, extreme hatred Barret had for anyone associated with the Shinra. He noticed that he had started to sweat just watching Barret confront the man. He looked up at Barret and calmly asked, "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Damn man! What the hell you so calm about? You bustin' up my rhythm!" the large man said, rocking on his booted feet.

Cloud knew what Barret was talking about. In a situation like this you needed to have an edge to you, a lot of determination, and a whole lot of guts.

Blowing up a reactor the first time was one thing, but blowing up a second reactor after the increased security was another thing.

They all braced themselves against the side of the car when the train started to move. Tifa said aloud, "Seems like they just finished connecting the cars. We're finally moving."

Cloud asked, "So what's our next target?" He lowered his voice. "Number five you said, right?"

Barret, still all wound up, said, "Ha! Listen to Mr. Serious-about-his-work!" He laughed and Cloud grinned. "Alright I'll tell ya."

"Much appreciated."

"Shut yur damn mouth, white boy." Barret shook his head and released a faint but hearty chuckle. He cleared his throat and continued, "Jessie's prolly already told you, but there's a security check point at the top of the plate. It's an ID scan system checkin' all the trains." He looked at them both with determined eyes. "Bad news is we can't use our fake ID's anymore past that point."

Cloud asked, "But what about the other check points?"

Shrugging, Barret replied, "The new ID's Jessie made this morning will hold us until we get to that final one."

He was interrupted by the train intercom. "Good morning, and welcome to Midgar Lines. Arrival time at the Sector 4 station will be at 11:45am." It repeated the announcement twice before the train fell silent again.

Tifa, shock written across her face, said, "That means we've only got three more minutes until we reach the ID checkpoint."

Looking at them both Barret said sternly, "Alright, in three minutes we're jumpin' off this train. Got it?" They both nodded. He nodded back, and then went to sit down.

4

Cloud was about three seconds away from sitting down and attempting to relax when alarms as loud as thunder sounded throughout the train. Red lights flickered back and forth casting a vibrant, scarlet tone onto everyone's skin.

Screaming and running back to Cloud, Tifa said, "The ID checkpoint was supposed to be further down!"

The train intercom came on. "Type A Security Alert! Unidentified passengers confirmed. A search of all cars will be conducted!"

Confused and frantic, all of the passengers were screaming things like, "What's happening?" or "What's going on?"

Cloud began to sweat, worrying that they would be caught before they could even reach the reactor.

5

Jessie heard the alarms and quietly cursed herself. She knew that some of the others were in the next car. Abandoning her position she rushed into the next train car, still in disguise, and yelled, "We're in trouble!" She breathed in hard and looked at Cloud. "I'll explain later. Hurry! Get to the next car!"

She saw Barret punch the side of the train. Powerfully and angrily he yelled, "DAMNIT! Someone blew it!" He glared at each of them before they all took off, dodging passengers and seats, onto the next train car.

Barret, being the last one out, heard the door lock behind him. With scared and hopeless expressions on their faces the team heard the intercom come on again. "Upgrading to Level Two, lock down of each train car! Unidentified passengers. Alert! Preparing for lock down."

"Shit!" Barret screamed. For the first time he realized that an assault on another Mako reactor only one day later might've been too risky, even for AVALANCHE.

Biggs and Wedge were in this car as well. Biggs looked as if he was going to be sick. Wedge held a straight face but couldn't help but stare openly at Jessie with anger. Cloud saw this but didn't comment. This was neither the time nor the place.

Wedge unlocked his stare, looked around at everyone, and then yelled, "Alright, changing to Plan Two. Just run for it!"

Running fast enough to keep up, but not so fast as to collide into Tifa who was in front of him, Cloud made his way up through the train cars.

6

The sound of the alarm grew loud enough to rattle their eardrums. The intercom repeated, "Maximum Security Alert! Complete system lock down!"

Finally, as they made their way maneuvering through noisy crowds of scared Midgar citizens, they reached the end of their run. Barret, with what seemed to be the same amount of strength as a twelve-ton bulldozer, ripped the train door clean off the wall. He yelled, "Let's go! We're gonna dive outta here!"

Tifa gulped and looked at Cloud, "Scary, huh?"

Cloud tried not to think about their next daring escape and replied, "It's too late to be saying that now. Why'd you come along anyway?"

"Because . . ."

Before she could answer, or at least make it seem like she was going to give an answer, Barret yelled, "Hey you two! There ain't no time for that bullshit!"

Tifa sighed, her face turning a shade of red. She quickly disregarded it and stepped up to the wall that had previously contained a door. She put both hands on the sides of the wall. She looked back at Cloud, counted from three to zero in her head, and then leaped into the air, out of sight from them in a millisecond.

Trying to keep his mind off of Tifa, Cloud looked at Barret. "You don't care if I go first?"

"A leader always stays 'til the end." Referring to Cloud's hair he joked, "Jes don't go get your spiky-ass hurt!" Cloud grinned, stepped forward, and then jumped out, covering his face with his hands.

Barret turned around to his disguised team. "Later! You take care of the rest. We'll find a way in." And after seeing Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie each nod their head, he turned around and jumped, letting go of a few pent up words of 'wisdom' as he fell and landed.

7

"Jessie," Biggs said, after the trio hid themselves amongst the panicking people two train cars away from where the others had just jumped, "what did you do?"

She only shook her head.

Wedge grabbed her arm. "Jessie . . . it's okay. I think we still might be okay."

Biggs allowed himself a small smile. "It's Cloud, isn't it?"

"Cloud?" Wedge said, before realizing what Biggs had meant. "You like him?"

Jessie nodded.

"It was his new ID, wasn't it?" Biggs asked.

Jessie remained silent for a moment, and then nodded again.

8

The train zoomed down the tracks, out of sight within seconds. Cloud, who had already teamed up with Tifa, saw Barret as he rolled to a stop on the ground beside the tracks.

As they ran up to him Cloud looked around the dark tunnel that they were in. Lit up only by a few tiny lights above, the tunnel proved to be an eerily dark and quiet place compared to the madness that was currently occupying the train.

The clacking of the train soon disappeared, leaving the tunnel void of anything but the faint light.

Surprising Cloud, Barret greeted them with a smile. "Good, so far everything is pretty much going as planned."

"As planned?" Cloud questioned.

Barret replied, "Well . . . we made it further than I thought we were gonna once that alarm went off."

"Plus we're still alive," Tifa piped in.

Barret nodded. "That's for damn real."

They huffed and puffed as they wiped dirt off of their clothes. Surprisingly enough, the fall hadn't been what any of them had expected. Although rolling enough to make them queasy, the pain they had expected to feel from the impact was barely present.

They had an edge tonight. They felt ready for anything.

Barret looked at them and said, "The rest of the team has got everything ready for us. So let's move it! The reactor's just down this tunnel."

Suddenly they heard a small voice shouting something behind them. They each turned around to find a Shinra guard that must've been stationed somewhere in the area. He shouted and shouted while running at the three of them. In his mind he was so close to that promotion to SOLDIER.

When the lone guard was close enough, Cloud pulled out his mighty sword and slashed it through the air in front of the guard. The tiny man stopped in his tracks, appeared to do some quick rethinking of his 'play-the-hero' plan, and then bolted back in the direction he had come from.

Cloud, Barret, and Tifa all laughed heartily as they watched the small man run off out of sight, and then continued their way down the dimly lit tunnel.

9

Soon enough, not spending time to check out the featureless scenery, the team reached a dead end. Not the type of dead end that ceases completely, but the type that doesn't allow certain things through it - for instance: the members of AVALANCHE.

They each looked at the grid of mint-green laser beams which crossed the tunnel from one side to the other.

"So this would've been the last check point?" Cloud asked, his face lit up from the ethereal green light in front of him.

Tifa shielded her eyes from the glow. "I'd guess so . . ." She then turned to Cloud. "Say . . . how are you feeling?"

"Me?" Cloud said. He shrugged. "I'm fine, I guess."

Before the conversation could go any further, Barret said, "Alright, you both shut the hell up now." He had anticipated a potential train problem and had studied a few maps of the ventilation systems that wove through the massive structure of the railway. So without letting the laser beams affect his spirits he walked to the side of the tunnel, gazing at all of the pipes and ducts. Staring for a few seconds at a specific ventilation duct that was set firmly in the wall, he stroked his thick beard and considered their options.

After a short time he turned around to Tifa and Cloud. Calmly, not usually a trait of Barret, he said, "Those light beams are the Shinra's security sensors. We can't go that way, so we'll go this way." He leaned over and removed the cover of the vent. With Barret's colossal strength it appeared to come off much too easily.

Cloud shrugged his shoulders and looked down into the dark opening. "Damn, that's one tiny hole."

"You claustrophobic or somethin'?" Barret asked, grinning.

Cloud saw the grin and shook his head. "No, Barret," he said brightly, sarcasm dripping from his lips. He continued, "I have a slight motion-sickness problem, but as for enclosed spaces I'm just swell."

Barret slapped him upside the back of his head. "If you're done reminiscing about shit I don't care about it . . ."

Cloud cut him off. "Alrighty, there seems to be nothing in the duct that'll get us stuck. Let's go for it." He smiled at Barret's shocked and reddening face - as well as the thought of Barret climbing into the small space - but held back any laughter that could've escaped him.

He gave Barret a winning, sarcastic smile and slowly climbed into the vent, disappearing into the darkness.

"Don't you be cute with me, white boy," Barret grumbled. "I dunno if I like you yet. And even if I decide I do I ain't gonna want you being cute with me."

Cloud's voice, filled with echo and trembling reverb, called out from the duct. "Whatever you say, Barret."

"Damn spiky-headed fool," Barret whispered.

Tifa winced at the thought of entering the duct. Nevertheless, she climbed in, not slowing the progression of the team's actions so far that day. Barret followed just behind her.

The entire time crawling through, none of them could think of anything else except for the horribly odorous smell that consumed them like a nasty viral plague.

Cloud laughed in spite of it because behind him he could tell that Tifa kept slowing down, forcing Barret to nudge her, which in turn forced her to kick him, which inevitably led to Barret saturating the thin vent air with profanities.

10

They crawled on and on, their hands and knees covered with dust and filth, each of their necks starting to ache as they slowly crept through the dark vent.

Finally, fearing that their sense of smell would never be the same, the team exited the duct into an immense and gloomy room. To their enjoyment, Biggs was standing near a ladder close by. He was shining a light up towards a room.

Physically wiping the smell of the duct from their clothes the three ran to Biggs. He greeted them with a smile and said, "This way, guys. The back entrance to the reactor is up the ladder."

As Cloud passed Biggs he yet again felt overcome by the _feeling_ of the Mako within the reactor. He ignored a dizzying _feeling_ in his head and climbed up the ladder while Barret and Tifa talked with Biggs. Twice he almost felt like he was about to lose his grip but in no time at all he had reached the top.

In a cramped room at the top of the ladder, the intensity of the feeling doubled. He shook it off, focused, and realized that Jessie was standing by a small doorway which was no taller than three feet high.

Before he could say anything she blurted out, "I'm sorry. The ID scan problem on the train was all my fault."

Cloud lowered his brow, confused. "What do you mean it was all your fault? How could it have been?"

She continued, almost whimpering, "I made your ID card special . . . that's why it happened." She turned around so that he couldn't look her in the face. "I put my heart into making it. But I failed."

With the mission minutes before him and with the increased strengthening of his nausea, he could think of nothing better to say than, "It's okay, don't worry about it."

_Although you should be worrying about it. Jeopardizing the mission over . . . over _those _kinds of feelings. You better make sure that Barret doesn't find out. He'll rip you're heart right out, save you the trouble of having to worry about it ever again._

Jessie turned back around, shook her head, and said, "Next time, I'll give you something more decent. As soon as we pull out I'm gonna go back to the hideout and work on it!" She released a partial smile before she heard Tifa and Barret enter the room. Nodding her head and winking at Cloud she stepped out of the way and watched them pass through the small door.

11

Once through the narrow hall that the door led them through, mentally blinded by the feeling of the Mako, Cloud saw Wedge standing near the final door that would take them into the reactor.

While walking towards Wedge, Cloud blinked rapidly, trying to decrease the pressure in his head.

Wedge shook each of their hands and said, "We're gonna pull out now, we'll meet you about halfway back to the hideout." He gave Cloud a look of admiration. "We're counting on you guys to blow the reactor to smithereens. Good luck." He ran off out of sight the way they had just come.

They each took a few deep breaths.

Barret looked at them both. "Ready?"

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other before looking back at Barret. "Ready!"

12

They charged into the reactor. Looking around supplied the team with a renewed sense of hope for they were already in sight of the reactor core.

This of course did not stop the two guards on duty from attacking them, absolute aggression apparent on their charging bodies.

Cloud stepped in front of Tifa, intending to protect her. Instead, she ran around the front of him and towards one of the charging guards. Watching in horror Cloud started running for her.

_Tifa, I know your strong . . . but what are you doing? These are armed men!_

Barret held him back and let out a miniscule laugh. Cloud looked at him confused while Barret said, "Jes watch."

They both turned to watch Tifa, who was at that time dodging a sword. Somersaulting forward she quickly jumped into the air, reminding Cloud of a dolphin, and planted her foot into the guard's face. Spitting blood and wheezing for air the guard fell.

The other guard, seeing his partner go down, threw a hefty dagger at her. Avoiding the smooth flowing blade Tifa sprinted at the man. After brutally kicking him in the knee, she tucked her leg around his, sweeping him off of his feet - just as any girl as pretty as Tifa could. Fractions of a second after his back hit the ground she delivered a lethal dose of fist to the man's face, shattering his jaw and loosening more than a few teeth. No sounds poured from the unconscious man.

Cloud could not hide or control the baffled look on his face. He looked at Barret, shrugged his shoulders, and then laughed.

_Tifa,_ he thought. _You're all grown up._

Tifa joined them, sporting a very, very proud grin. She had seen Cloud's reaction and was more than pleased with herself and the show she had given him.

For a second, Cloud stared at her face, admiring her grin, as well as her natural beauty. Just as he felt he was going to say something, the feeling from the Mako finally overwhelmed him. He lost his balance, and then wobbled back and forth for a few seconds before falling onto the steel reactor floor.

Not only did his mind go blank as it had before, but it was joined by his sight and all of the other senses within him.

However, he realized that there was still one sensation that he was capable of feeling.

Panic.

And he _was _panicking. He was scared out of his mind.

_What is happening to me?_

Slowly the blackness in his sight lifted, but did not reveal to him the same scene that he had just been taking part in.

13

This was a place that Cloud hadn't seen in years. He was still in a Mako reactor, but it was not any of the ones located in Midgar.

He was in Nibelheim, his hometown.

The Nibelheim reactor was not quite as high-tech as the Midgar reactors. It was older, and contained thrice as many chains and pulleys than the newer machines in Midgar.

He shuddered and realized that he was laying face down on the cold, steel floor.

Instead of the slums beneath him he could see the easily recognizable greenish-blue Mako substance.

He tried to figure out what was going on. He knew this place. Something important had happened here.

Before long he glanced forward and remembered the horrific event.

Approximately fifteen feet ahead of him on the ground near an entrance lay a dead man, stabbed. Within the distance of the man's blood a long sword - a blade that made Cloud shudder even more - lay on the ground. What made him tense up again was the sight of Tifa, much younger, but not quite as young as she had been when he'd talked to her on the well. She was violently screaming at the top of her lungs and crying as fiercely as he had ever seen.

Kneeling over her dead father she screamed and screamed. Touching her father's face and listening to the sound of her voice's echo, she yelled, "Papa . . ." She slammed her fist on the ground next to him. "Sephiroth!?" She stood up in a fit of rage. "Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?" She looked up towards the sky.

Cloud wished he could comfort her. He couldn't move. He just sat there and watched.

Tifa screamed aggressively, shaking her fists, "Sephiroth . . . SOLDIER . . . Mako reactors . . . Shinra . . . Everything! I hate them all!" Her eyes burned with hatred. She bent over, looked at her father, and then picked up the long blade that had killed him. Shaking her head violently she screamed and ran into the next room of the reactor, out of sight.

14

His mind went blank again, and darkness filled all of his voids. Slowly his vision again cleared, this time bringing him back five years to the present day.

Barret was shaking him, his face undeniably concerned. He looked at Cloud. "Damn man! Get a hold of yourself!"

Tifa knelt down next to him, touched his face just as she had done to her father five years ago, and softly said, "Cloud, are you all right?"

Not overcome by any more sensations of lightheadedness he darted up onto his feet. He looked at her. ". . . Tifa."

"Yes, Cloud?"

Realizing this was not the time or the place, he said, "No . . . forget it. Come on, let's hurry!" Without anymore interruptions, physically or mentally, he ran and set the bomb.

15

Tifa watched as Cloud hastily went to work on the wires of the bomb, more than a little confused as to what had just happened.

Exchanging an equally perplexed look with Barret, she thought, _What good is it whether or not I'm here with Cloud when I can't do anything for him anyways?_

"Cloud . . ." she said softly.

Finished with the bomb, Cloud turned around and said, "Not now, Tifa."

"Right," Barret added. "There's no time for that now!"

16

Just as they had done the previous night, they had to run up a couple flights of stairs and go up an elevator. They knew that they could've gone out the same way that they had come in this afternoon, but it would have left them on the train tracks, which was a place they definitely did not want to be after the explosion.

They had reached the elevator and in a minute or two had arrived at the top floor, one thousand feet above the slums. The only guards that they encountered along the way Barret took care of with quick, violent bursts of gunfire.

He reminded himself that when they stopped he would have to reload, having spent the last of his current ammunition on the pesky guards.

They were almost out of here. Everything was going pretty much as they had planned and it looked like they were going to succeed once again.

With plenty of time to get out before the bomb detonated, Barret slapped each of their backs in congratulations.

They ran briskly down the halls and through certain doors they knew led to their exit, sweating profusely at this point during their frantic run.

It wasn't exactly a surprise when they found that their exit had been blocked off.

Everything had been going _pretty much_ as planned.

A few members of SOLDIER were in attack position, blocking the exit door.

_This certainly wasn't in the plan . . ._ Cloud thought, the throb in his head fading into nothing more than an occasional pulse.

Barret stopped dead in his tracks and yelled, "Shinra soldiers? What the hell is going on?"

Cloud immediately knew. He looked at Barret and shook his head. ". . . Must be a trap. We all knew that it couldn't have been that easy."

But then something happened that they didn't expect.

The Shinra soldiers suddenly stood up and ran through the exit doors, leaving the team alone on the T-shaped bridge.

Confused, the team was about to make a run for it, not exactly sure what was happening anymore. But then the main scenario of the trap began.

17

They all heard footsteps coming from the opposite end of the vast room.

Cloud looked over the edge towards the slums. No grass grew down there and the soil was as hard as rock. In his mind he knew whose footsteps they were, but he didn't want to believe it.

A man could now be seen one level above them on an overlooking platform.

Barret and Tifa both stared in amazement at President Felix Shinra, in his red suit and all. Barret squeaked out, "President Shinra?"

Tifa, just as bewildered, said, "Why is the President here?" She stared at the robust man, flinching each time one of his twelve hundred gil shoes kissed the ground, the sound echoing off of the nearby walls.

The President stared down at them. And staring down was appropriate for in his mind he was the king and they were the unlawful servants. In a powerfully deep, but undoubtedly sarcastic tone, he said, "Hmm . . . so you all must be that . . . wait, what was it?" He chuckled, causing his plump tummy to jiggle, obviously pleased with his childish jape.

Not accepting the President's humor, Barret violently yelled, "AVALANCHE! And don't ya forget it!" He raised his fist. "So you're fat-man President Shinra, huh?" He held his gunarm up towards the President only to find that he was still out of ammunition – he had never reloaded. He considered reaching for some ammo but in the time that it would take him to reload the President could easily retreat out of harm's way.

The large man glared at Barret, and seemed to have read his mind. "Yes . . . I'm afraid I have the upper ground." He sneered.

Cloud looked up from the slum floor and toward the President. He took a step forward and said, "Long time no see, President."

President Shinra unpeeled his glare from Barret and faced Cloud, who still donned his old SOLDIER uniform. "'Long time no see'? Oh . . . you. You're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE." He looked deep into Cloud's eyes. "I knew you had been exposed to Mako, from the glow in your eyes. Tell me, traitor, what was your name?"

"Cloud Strife."

"Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember each person's name," Shinra said before sighing. "That is . . . unless you become another Sephiroth. Yes, Sephiroth . . . he was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant."

Stepping back, mentally hit from hearing that name once again having not heard it in so many years, Cloud repeated, "Sephiroth . . ."

Barret broke up the conversation and yelled, "Don't give a damn 'bout none of that! This place's going up with a big BANG soon! Serves you right, shithead!"

The President, apparently not amused, looked down at Barret and replied, "And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you." He pointed his fat finger at Barret. "You're all vermin . . . and you are simply the leader of the pack."

Barret seemed to explode with anger. "VERMIN? That's all you can say!? You and the whole rest of the Shinra are the vermin, killing the Planet an' all! You are the goddamn vermin!"

Pretending to yawn the President said, "Ah well, you are beginning to bore me. I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner I must attend."

"Dinner!? Don't gimme that! I ain't even started wit' you yet!"

Smirking, the President snapped his fingers and said, "Don't worry, I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all."

From the teams potential exit a huge Shinra robot rushed onto the bridge. Tifa and Barret jumped to one side to avoid getting run over, but Cloud instead ran along the T-shaped bridge in the direction of the President.

Smiling at the robot-machine like a sweet-toothed child with candy, the President said, "Now then, if you'll excuse me."

A helicopter hovered up from under the bridge. Cloud looked up towards the platform and yelled, "Wait!" But the helicopter men intercepted the President swiftly and flew away, leaving the three of them with one seriously big problem.

18

Barret yelled, "Yo, Cloud! This reactor's gonna blow any minute, and I don't think this techno-robot thing is gonna let us leave very easily!"

As much as Cloud's mind was filled with questions - questions from his past - he quickly disregarded them and rushed towards the others. He was standing behind the machine. Unlike the scorpion machine they had fought previously, this one was built to represent an insect, perhaps a hornet or a bee.

With Barret and Tifa, as well as their exit on the other side of him, he knew this thing would have to be defeated.

He charged it, slashing away at its parts from behind. It shot a laser from its shoulder directly at him. He ducked and rolled out of the way.

All he could think about now was the bomb.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick- tock. . ._

Tifa was doing what she could, punching and kicking the machine while Barret loaded his gunarm. Using a rotating saw the machine swung at Tifa, coming inches away from her neck, and sliced open her shoulder. Screaming in pain she went down.

Barret, now loaded, fired at it.

Just before it swung another devastating blow to Tifa, Cloud jumped on its back, sword in hand. Holding the handle with one hand, and the back of the long blade with his other, he quickly sawed back and forth at its neck.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick- tock. . ._

Barret, not wanting to put Cloud in danger, fired at its legs.

While he sawed his sword back and forth, Cloud could see Tifa on the ground, holding her shoulder and screaming in agony. The blood from her body matched the color of his face as he franticly knifed through the robot's neck.

Barret pulled Tifa to one side of the bridge, and then charged at the machine while firing from close range at its chest. The machine constantly sparked and swung at Barret, cutting and bruising him chaotically.

Finally, to their relief, Cloud's Buster sword cut through and the machine stopped moving. Barret fell backwards onto the ground, physically hurt and exhausted. Tifa was sitting upward biting her lip, overwhelmed with pain.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick- tock. . ._

Cloud jumped back from the machine. He took a deep breath, relieved that the thing was dead. Knowing that time was short he picked up his sword, and was about to run to Barret and Tifa when something unexpected happened. The defeated machine made a loud noise, appeared to vibrate a few seconds, and then exploded. Although not a grand explosion, it was enough to knock Cloud off of his feet.

19

When the smoke cleared he realized that he was hanging only by his arms and chest. The mini-explosion had blown a hole through the bridge. As he dangled there, one thousand feet above the slum floor, he thought about Barret and Tifa. Had they fallen? He tried his best to position himself to see if he could see them.

He heard screaming.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick- tock. . ._

Luckily he heard Tifa wailing across from him. She screamed, "Cloud!"

Barret, who was cut and bruised from the fight, held her back and yelled, "It's gonna blow! Let's go, Tifa!" He didn't want to leave Cloud, but had no idea what else he could do.

She screamed, "Barret! Do something! Please! Cloud, hang on! Barret, help him!" She struggled against Barret's arms, trying to get to Cloud, trying to come to his aid just as he had promised that he would do if she were in his position.

On the verge of tears Barret looked back and forth between Tifa and Cloud. Cloud's face was smothered with anguish; he was struggling to hang on. Barret cried out, "There's nothing . . . there's nothing I can do!"

Yelling to Cloud, Tifa said, "Cloud! Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you! So much I _need_ to tell you!"

Still struggling he yelled back to her, "I know, Tifa . . ." He felt his grip slipping. He couldn't hold on much longer. Every inch of his body burned. All the while the ticking of a clock echoed throughout his throbbing head.

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick- tock. . ._

Barret, overwhelmed and very un-leader like, screamed at the mercenary, "Cloud . . . what do I do?"

Straining, feeling as if his arms were made of jelly and that both shoulders were slowly popping out of their sockets, Cloud knew most importantly that he didn't want to let Tifa down. That was his first priority.

Eyes stinging from sweat, fingers erupting with pain, he yelled, "Worry about yourselves! Get outta here!" He lied and said, "I'm alright, just take care of Tifa!"

Staring with disbelief at what had happened after everything had been going so smoothly, Barret could only say, "Aright . . . sorry 'bout all this."

Physically out of fuel Cloud was still determined not to let Tifa down. He yelled, "Barret, stop talkin' like this is the end!"

Barret tightened his grip on Tifa, who was still screaming for Cloud, and said, "Alright then. Good luck! Later!"

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick- tock . . . BOOOOM!_

20

The bomb detonated, shaking the area. The quaking rumble alone was enough to loosen what little grip Cloud had had on the broken platform. For a few feet he could feel the intense heat of the fire as it rapidly grew closer to him.

His last image before his mind and sight turned black was of Barret and Tifa running away from him, towards the exit.

Soon all of the noise died out, the heat could no longer be felt, the sight of things rushing by him disappeared, and any thoughts of hope vanished into shadow.

Screams died off. Everything went black.

Cloud fell to his doom.


	10. 1-10 A Family Affair

10. A Family Affair

1

Rufus Shinra sat in a windowless backroom, thinking that his father had at least chosen a restaurant with respectable food. It was in the heart of Midgar, not far from the Shinra headquarters where his father worked and lived, and had been built with his father in mind; the backroom had been sectioned off from the main hall. No one off the streets would ever be allowed past the dividing curtain.

His father, Felix, had never allowed anyone to waste his time, save for the occasional tardiness of his head scientist Dorian Hojo, and yet he apparently had no qualms allowing his only son to wait over thirty minutes for him.

"Mr. Shinra's helicopter will be landing in a few minutes," the youthful waitress said, walking out from behind the curtain that separated the private room from the public.

"Fine," Rufus mumbled. "Whatever . . ."

To her credit the waitress retained a dazzling smile even when he shooed her from the room.

_I'm not even hungry,_ he thought, and then felt an urge to throw his silverware across the room. He resisted for a moment or two, and then decided to go ahead and throw it anyways. _What else am I suppose to do with this power?_

And that was exactly it; his father had never let him have a part within the family company.

He didn't look like his father; his tall and skinny form – along with his red hair – was the complete opposite of his father's bulging body.

And yes, maybe he had had an awkward stage in his youth, scared of too many things, fidgety and seemingly uncaring.

But things had changed.

He was a different man now, yet still as intelligent as he'd always been, but his father chose not to see that.

In fact, Rufus hadn't even been allowed the chance to prove his usefulness to his father in years, after Felix forced him off of the continent. Rufus had spent a few of those first weeks in the resort town of Costa del Sol enjoying the sun, the water activities, the women, and the general lounge-around attitude, but after a while he had started to feel the slow burn of anger coursing its way through his system.

He had never loved his father as far as he could remember; it had always been quite a professionally natured relationship. So when the overwhelming rage overcame him, instead of just seeing his father in an emotionless and careless way, he now saw him with a sickeningly pleasant hatred swimming in his guts.

Rufus had been allowed to roam the outskirts of Costa del Sol on the western continent, but always found members of SOLDIER waiting for him if he got too far. And taking a boat or airship back across the vast ocean was completely out of the question, seeing as his every movement was being monitored by one of his father's men.

Again he felt the rage in him maximizing into something that felt painful.

He needed to release the tension.

"Hey," he called to the young waitress, who he knew would be standing just outside of the private room. "Hey, you dumb bitch," he yelled.

The girl promptly appeared from behind the curtain. Walking over to his table, she smiled and asked, "Yes, sir?"

He waited until she was right next to him, and then he demanded, "Kiss me."

The smile on her face vanished. She asked, "What?"

Without hesitation he backhanded her across her frowning face.

_Now _that_ felt good._

The young girl grabbed for her face, letting out a sharp scream, and then fell clumsily to the floor.

Rufus watched the girl, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years of age, sobbing on the floor - and it made him feel wonderful.

The present scene made him remember the first time he had hit a girl – some antsy child that had continued to splash him as he waded in the foamy ocean water.

He had shouted at the girl, and the annoyance seemed like it would end there, but then the little thing had started crying. She had cried so hard she had started coughing aggressively.

Instead of feeling remorseful or trying to help the child, Rufus had grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her. The girl's eyes had widened and the choking noises coming out of her mouth had steadily grown in their intensity.

This meant nothing to Rufus though, so he continued to shake her. And when his arms finally got tired he grabbed her by the neck with his left hand and swung his right hand down on the bridge of her nose.

The sight of the girl's lifeless form, bleeding and floating in the cool water, exhilarated him to a high he had never experienced before.

He had hit others since then - most were women he had already paid for ahead of time for other dark-natured activities – but it was the first hit that had been the best. He had come out of his shell that day, and he would never return.

With a smooth smile on his face, he thought, _I wonder if that little bitch died?_

He then glanced down at the waitress as she slowly got to her feet, her left hand still rubbing at her swelling face.

"Come here," he bellowed.

Startled once again, the waitress began a slow approach to Rufus.

"Kiss me," he snapped.

This time the girl quickly bent forward and kissed him on the cheek.

Grinning, the President's son said, "That's a bit better . . . but you are certainly not living up to your potential."

"Sir?" she said, her voice barely a whisper.

He casually looked her over. "How old are you?"

"I'm . . . I'm," the girl stuttered.

"Spit it out," he screamed, raising his hand as if to strike her again.

She shrieked and cowered, her breath ragged. After a moment she answered, "I'm . . . I'm fourteen."

Rufus shook his head. "Fourteen, huh?" He grabbed the collar of the girl's shirt. "Let me ask you something." He released her collar and continued, "Do you really think that I'll treat you any different if you tell me you are a younger age than you really are?"

"No . . ."

"Then how old?" he snapped.

"Sixteen," she whispered. "I'm sixteen."

"Alright," Rufus said, energy coursing through him. _This_ is what he could do with the power he had. He grinned and said, "Remove your clothes."

The girl's eyes widened even further than before, her sobbing taking on a new life, her body trembling.

Rufus lifted his hand to strike the girl when he heard a familiar voice say, "Son, knock it off."

He turned around to see his father standing in the doorway. He sneered at the old man, and then turned back to the young girl and whipped her across the face with his tightened fist, sending a mouthful of blood into the air.

2

Tearing into his entrée, Rufus looked across the table at his old man.

_After all this time . . ._ he thought, licking his lips when he saw the young waitress' blood still spotted on the tiled floor.

"You're behavior is reckless, and you still have much to learn," his father said, "but it's about time you begin learning the ropes."

Rufus stared hard at his father. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Felix questioned.

"I mean," Rufus continued, "what the hell happened that makes you suddenly want to include me in the running of the company?"

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, the President replied, "There are things happening right now that are more important than the company." He paused, taking a prolonged bite at the filleted fish in front of him. He continued, "Despite our past quarrels I have come to the realization that if you are to take over the company when I die, you need to be here among us during this imperative period of time."

His face blank, Rufus dropped his silverware and asked, "What _is_ happening now?"

Brushing his moustache, Felix replied, "Rufus . . . you should know what is going on if it's important enough for me to bring you back here to Midgar."

Rufus continued to stare, unbelieving. "Neo-Midgar?" he questioned, almost whispering.

Nodding, his father continued, "I have almost all of my resources searching for two key specimens that Hojo needs to use for one of his experiments. You know I don't understand much of the scientific jargon he spits at me, but his demeanor alone stressed how important it was for him to have these two specific specimens."

Finally looking away from his father, Rufus asked, "The first target is still the Ancient, correct?"

"Yes," Felix said. "She is still our first priority and is essential in our Neo-Midgar endeavors."

"And the other?" Rufus asked.

"The other," the President continued, "is the last of the lion-like Cosmo Canyon creatures."

Rufus sat back, trying to puzzle out the new information. When he couldn't think of a sufficient reason as to why Hojo would want the canyon creature, he asked, "So you really think the Turks or whoever you have on this will be able to find the two specimens?"

"I have stressed the urgency and importance once again," Felix answered. "Tseng has already informed me that a plan to capture the canyon creature is already underway. As for the Ancient . . ." His voice drifted off. After taking a breath he continued, "Let's just say that if Tseng and the others don't find her I will promote you to the position of finding and hiring an entire new organization of Turks."

Rufus considered that and smiled. "And in the meantime . . . what should _I_ be doing?"

"For now," his father replied, "you're just going to be observing." He paused. "Interning, I suppose." Looking across the table he saw a stomach-turning glint pass through his son's eyes. Staring hard at Rufus he added, "And you are not to touch any of the women."

Rufus openly smiled, for the first time understanding that perhaps his father did know him better than any other person on the Planet.

Felix continued, "But if you still find yourself with an uncontrollable urge to lash out at women . . . well, that's what the citizens of the slums are for."

Rufus grinned, sadistic thoughts already breaching the dark corners of his twisted mind.


	11. 1-11 Heavy Hearts

11. Heavy Hearts

1

It had been a long walk back down to the slums, her pacing heart heavy with sorrow. If not for the emotional crescendo Tifa Lockhart felt mounting up within her mind she felt she might have given in to the empty desolation of madness.

_How could this have happened?_

After Barret and her had met up with the others and then started their surreptitious walk down the circling tracks to the slums, Tifa had truly felt like she was losing her mind. Cloud had been back in her life for roughly a week, and she had promised herself that she would look after his well-being.

_And what have I done for him,_ she thought, _other than watch him fall to his death?_

At the point of the walk where they reached the floor of the slums, still ten minutes or so from the Seventh Heaven, Barret had tried to console her, even though she could see the mixed range of emotions on his face as he did so.

"Don't, Barret . . ." she said meekly.

He continued, "It's just . . ." But his words trailed off, and once again he seemed lost in a trance like the others.

Tifa wanted to appreciate his concern, but she couldn't – she couldn't feel anything but pain, knowing that she'd failed the only important thing she'd had to do in the past few years of her life.

They soon left the dismal sights of the train station behind them, none of them speaking a word.

Passing the various shacks and scattered mounds of trash, they soon found themselves in front of the hideout, silence still as overpowering here as it was on the walk down, as if the news of Cloud's death had reached the ears of the others in the area.

While Barret walked over to retrieve Marlene from Johnny's parents' house down the row, and Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie ran inside the bar, Tifa silently sat down on the steps of an abandoned shack.

"Cloud," she whispered, still not truly believing what had happened to her childhood friend.

He had said to be strong, to not lose hope. But what hope was left when you've taken a thousand foot plunge onto the hardened soil of the slums?

_Wait a minute . . ._

She was up on her feet in an instant.

_He fell somewhere in Sector 5._

Knowing that she was certainly building up false hope within her mind, she raced across the way to the bar.

2

"Tifa . . . I really don't think you wanna see his . . ." Barret said, before trailing off. All of them were back in the hideout now, and all of them knew Barret had intended to finish with the word 'body'. Instead he finished, "You don't wanna be lookin' for him, Tifa."

"But Cloud is so strong," Tifa pleaded.

"Don't matter how strong you are," Barret said.

Biggs nodded. "Yeah, Tifa. That's a thousand foot drop."

Tifa persisted, "But Cloud . . . he's different." She looked at each of them, aware that Jessie hadn't said a word since she'd been told about Cloud's fall. Tifa continued, "Something happened to him . . . before we were reunited. I don't know what it was, but it changed him."

Wedge shrugged. "Tifa, that doesn't mean anything. After a fall from that far up . . ." He took a breath and continued, "There's no hope."

Tifa felt tears flooding her eyes. "But there has to be. It can't end like this!" She stormed off, exiting the bar.

When she had reached the main path in front of the hideout she found herself staring up at the plate above her.

_That _is_ really high up,_ she thought. _How can I pretend to have hope when I know surviving something like that is impossible?_

She heard movement behind her and assumed Barret or one of the others had come out after her.

"I've just got this feeling," she said aloud. "Something inside of me is whispering that Cloud is still alive."

After she spoke she waited for some form of consolation from one of the others, but when she heard nothing save for the same rustling noise from before she quickly spun on her heels.

"Hey!" she screamed, seeing a black-clad man staring out at her from under the porch.

Clumsily he crawled out on his hands and knees, grinning stupidly. "Sorry, lady." The man got to his feet, and then looked her body over with apparent approval. Shrugging, he said, "Bad habit, ya know?"

Barret and the others had heard her scream and had rushed out. They now stood in a group, staring at Tifa and the strange man.

"What the hell's going on here?" Barret hollered.

The man held his hands up. "Hey now . . . I already apologized for lookin' at the girl."

Tifa turned to the others. "It's repulsive . . . he was staring at me from under the porch."

Barret stood his ground, visibly fuming, but Biggs and Wedge slowly stepped down off of the porch, circling the man.

"Listen," the black-clad man began, "I don't want no trouble."

Wedge laughed. "Then why the hell are you still standing here?"

The man nodded. "Right . . . I'll just be leaving then . . ."

He began to walk away when Barret leaped off the porch, grasped his shoulder, and said, "Wait just a sec . . ."

Color drained out of the man's face. "What . . . what is it?" He looked from Barret's face to his intimidating gunarm.

Barret stared hard at the man, and then turned to the others. "I don't think this guy really belongs here in Sector 7."

Nodding, Biggs said, "Yeah . . . let's send him packin'!"

"Please," the man begged, "I'm sorry, okay? Just let me go."

Barret laughed. "I don't think so, pal. You see . . . when I said I didn't think you belonged here in Sector 7, I really meant that I don't think you belong in the slums at all."

Stepping forward, Tifa asked, "Barret, what's going on?"

Jessie finally broke her silence, understanding Barret's actions. "A spy?"

"No!" the man squealed. "I'm not . . ."

"Shut it," Barret yelled, cutting him off. "I'm already tired of your goddamn babble."

"But I'm not . . ." the man continued, struggling to break free of Barret's firm grasp.

Barret smiled and looked to Wedge. "Hey, Wedge?"

"Yeah, boss?"

"Could you shut this guy up for me?"

Smiling, Wedge replied, "Sure," and then slammed his knuckles into the back of the man's head.

As the spy collapsed to the ground Tifa took a step back and took a breath. She had been so overwhelmed with thoughts of Cloud that she hadn't seen right through the man's phony disguise.

As the others lifted the man and carried him into the bar, Tifa whispered, "Cloud . . . I'll find you . . . I know you're all right. Somehow I know." She paused, making her way back into the hideout. "Somehow I know . . ."

In her heart she knew that she wanted to go to Sector 5 right now, but if the black-clad man really was a spy, then there were other problems at hand.

Before she took the final step into the bar she promised herself that after this current situation had been taken care of that she would go to Sector 5 and search for Cloud, regardless of what Barret and the others thought – after all, she knew Cloud better than any of them, didn't she?

But what she didn't know was how serious the current situation was about to become . . .


	12. 1-12 The Last of His Kind

12. The Last of His Kind

1

Nanaki raced through the yawning plains beyond Cosmo Canyon, towards the distant town of Gongaga. The long grass continuously rubbed against the underside of his body, his large paws only partially blocking the swaying stalks. Overhead the sun threatened to pass out of sight, sinking lower and lower into the flaming sky.

That intense shade of orange-red that one could see in the sky at this time of day resembled Nanaki's furry coat. The only contrast to all of the flaming red was the deep auburn of his mane as well as the black-as-night orbs within his eye sockets. During certain occasions back at the canyon he would also sometimes wear intricate headdresses, a custom that he alone carried out.

_And that's because I am the last of my kind,_ he thought, still sprinting all-out in the direction of Gongaga.

The large town - that he would be arriving at within the next couple of hours - was on the southernmost point of the Western Continent. Once a month it was Nanaki's duty to trade for supplies that could not be found close to the canyon. Gongaga was fairly large – especially when compared to Cosmo Canyon – and was on the edge of the ocean, which allowed the locals to partake in covert trading.

The town had suffered terrible losses some years ago because of a Mako reactor that Shinra had built on their land. Although no one was positive what had caused it, the explosion had turned the community upside-down, forcing a hearty hatred against all things Shinra-based.

While Cosmo Canyon wasn't openly for or against the Shinra, Bugenhagen and the other elders had always felt better to simply keep to themselves, and to avoid any unnecessary dealings with Shinra, Inc.

The sun was but a sliver of light now, yet Nanaki sped on, knowing that if he truly desired he could dash around the entire continent without stopping. That knowledge came with what he was: a _Mabnai_, as the Ancients named them – although more recently the term 'canyon creature' seemed to have taken hold.

For as long as history could remember the Mabnai protected the dry, dusty canyon and its inhabitants, and Nanaki felt that same yearning within himself to do as his ancestors had done for countless centuries.

And because of the obligation that he felt for the others in the canyon he made these monthly trips to Gongaga nothing more than business, so that he could return to the canyon as soon as possible. There were others there that could protect the canyon, but they were not like Nanaki.

He found himself thinking again about that lonely piece of knowledge. He was alone – the last of his kind.

A great battle had killed off the rest of his kind when he was only a small cub.

_Killed off all of them save for my cowardly father . . ._

He shook his head, not wanting to think about that other dismal knowledge of his own family's past, and doubled his efforts, the sky above gaining stars by the second.

2

"Thank you once again," Nanaki said to the family that had allowed him to room in their house on his monthly visit to Gongaga. The Knightblade's had always been nice to him, not treating him any differently than anyone else, and he was glad that Grandfather Bugenhagen had recommended them long ago.

"Oh, Nanaki," Mr. Knightblade said, a small smile on his face, "you should know by now that it is our pleasure simply having the company."

Unsure of how to reply, Nanaki only nodded.

The Knightblade's often said things like this, and Nanaki understood all too well that it had everything to do with their missing son. Nanaki had met the boy a few times during his earlier visits and had even helped search a bulky section of the Western Continent for any trace of him after he had vanished.

Looking up at the face of Mrs. Knightblade Nanaki tried to remember what she had looked like just over five years ago, just after her only child had left home and had never returned.

_She looks drained,_ he thought. _And why not? She's lost her only son and heir. Not too dissimilar from my own situation._

"Will you be heading out this afternoon?" Mr. Knightblade said, breaking the soft tension in the room.

Nanaki turned towards him and replied, "I don't have much to gather this time around, so I won't be in the village long." He paused, avoiding the family portrait to the left of the man. "Do either of you need anything . . . while I'm here? It wouldn't be any trouble."

"No . . ." Mrs. Knightblade answered softly. "I believe we're all set. Right, honey?"

Her husband nodded and stuck an arm around her. "Yeah, we're all set."

"But thank you . . ."

Nanaki nodded once again. He considered taking a step back towards the door but knew there was one thing missing from the monthly banter.

Every time that he visited they would sit around a small fire during the late hours of the night, eat a small vegetable-filled breakfast, and then they would go through a depressing routine as he made to leave.

What was missing from the ritual, and what Nanaki was waiting for, was for the question Mrs. Knightblade wanted to ask.

Her husband knew what was going on as well. With his arm still around his wife he said, "It's okay . . . you can ask."

A tear leaked out of her eye, but she allowed a small smile in spite of it. "I know it's foolish of me . . ."

"It's not foolish," her husband cut in, and squeezed her a little tighter.

Clearing her throat and wiping her eyes, Mrs. Knightblade stared down at Nanaki. "Has . . . has there been any word from any of the travelers that go to the canyon?" She paused. "Any word about our son?"

Knowing that the question was coming didn't make the answer any easier to supply. Nanaki shook his head solemnly. "No . . . I'm sorry. I've heard nothing about your son."

More tears came, and with the routine completed Nanaki made his way outside to the town square of Gongaga.

3

Making his way around the town Nanaki gathered up the supplies he needed, occasionally avoiding the decaying shrapnel of metal sprawled on the ground in various areas. The citizens of Gongaga had sworn that they would never remove the rubble, so that it would serve as a reminder for the generations to come that involvement with the Shinra was never a good thing. A testimony explaining this was written on a sign at the town's eastern entrance.

Sighing, Nanaki walked the scattered dirt paths in the direction of his least favorite trading location of the town. The man he had to deal with – a grumpy, old codger named Bridgeman – spent about as much time talking as he did trying to rip Nanaki off. There had been many occasions where Nanaki had seriously considered forgetting the cranky man, but knew that the elders in Cosmo Canyon needed the lenses that Bridgeman grudgingly supplied.

He passed one of the four cemeteries that existed on the corners of the town and saw Bridgeman's house ahead of him. The old man was standing outside, the stub of a cigar dangling from his mouth.

"Right on time," the man said, watching Nanaki approach.

"Good morning, sir," Nanaki said, trying his best to win over the man at least enough to make the transaction happen swiftly.

Throwing the cigar on the ground and stamping it out, Bridgeman waved his hand and said, "Oh, don't give me that 'good morning' shit. Let's step inside and get to work!"

Nanaki rolled his eyes. He found himself wondering if Bridgeman was truly in a pleasant mood, or if it was simple mockery.

"Let's go! Let's go," the old man persisted, a wide smile on his face.

Nanaki took a step forward and then halted, thoughts flooding his mind.

_Something's not right . . ._

Standing his ground, he said, "Why don't you bring what I need out here?"

The smile on the man's face vanished. "Well I'll be damned! I go out of my way to make sure you get what you need . . . and you're gonna come here and order me around?"

Nanaki glanced past the glowering man, and into the open doorway. Everything in him told him to stay out of the house, but he couldn't figure out why. He was the stronger of the two. If Bridgeman tried to pull anything Nanaki could literally tear him to shreds.

"I'm sorry," Nanaki said coolly. "Let's just get this over with . . ."

He strode past the man and stepped inside. A single candle burned on the far side of the room, the only other light source coming from the sunshine pouring in through the living room window.

When he heard the door slam shut behind him he realized his mistake.

Whipping around to face who he thought was going to be Bridgeman, he found himself looking at a man in a navy suit with a pair of black sunglasses sitting on top of his bald head.

Before Nanaki could even bare his teeth he heard the quick patter of steps to his right and then felt something heavy and metallic slam into the center of his back.

The bald man in front of him leaped at him, shoving something into his side.

_A needle . . ._

Nanaki swiped a claw at the man, but his paw veered off course as the other attacker wailed him with the metal rod again.

Jumping backward, Nanaki sprinted through the house, only to find that past the living room there were a dozen Shinra guards waiting for him. At least half were pointing guns in his direction.

Roaring, and starting to justly panic, he turned back once again and ran straight into the bald-headed man, who had been coming at him with another needle.

Bowling the man over, Nanaki raced for the door, feeling the effects of whatever he had been injected with.

Bridgeman was blocking the door, and Nanaki would have been more than glad to take him _and_ the door down, but suddenly felt pain erupting within his body.

His limbs gave out, and as he fell he saw another suited man with a large metal rod continuously prodding his flank with the electrical weapon.

Nanaki tried with all of his strength to stand, but the current of electricity was disabling his nerves from responding to his fight-or-flight needs.

The bald man was standing over him, another needle in his hand.

Nanaki felt the pain cease, and knew that the electrical current had been turned off. Panting and looking up he saw the needle coming closer to him.

With one last effort he made an attempt to bite the legs of the suited man standing over him.

His attempt was folly, for the only reward he received for his effort was having his muzzle smashed with the metal rod.

As the scene around him slowly faded to black Nanaki saw the man with the rod pull out a mobile phone, while the bald-headed man carefully injected him with the yellowish substance inside of the needle.

Even as the darkness completely overcame him, Nanaki heard the man with the phone say, "Tell the President we've got the creature," and then there was nothing.


	13. 1-13 Flowers Blooming In the Church

13. Flowers Blooming In the Church

1

Darkness still prevailed. As if looking into a starless universe Cloud's mind had entered a realm of nothingness. Yet it seemed like he could understand what was going on, like his mind wasn't completely empty. Motionless he patiently waited, pondering thoughts of his yet undetermined fate in the vacant and empty space.

But if he was dead, could he be pondering about anything?

Wherever he was, the darkness was the only understandable thing currently running through his mind. But somewhere deep in a cold, dark void within his brain, he knew something.

He felt something.

Maybe he wasn't dead.

He gradually remembered that he had fallen a thousand feet from a Mako reactor.

_I have to be dead . . ._

But before he allowed this morbid conclusion to overwhelm him he heard something within his mind.

An eerie, whispery voice, the same voice he had heard in the first Mako reactor - _Careful! You know that this isn't just a reactor_ - started talking inside of his head again. The words were the only thing present besides the vast emptiness in his mind, like an evening sky filled with gloomy clouds that would not allow even the most minuscule starlight to shine through. The darkness was consuming him, but out of its depths he had heard a voice, a strange and somehow androgynous voice.

Calmly, yet questioningly, it asked, "_You alright?_" Cloud didn't respond. He wasn't even sure if he _could_ respond. The voice spoke again, "_Can you hear me?_"

Not having anything to lose he spoke, not out loud, but within himself. He responded, ". . . Yeah . . ."

The voice continued, obviously responding to what he had said. "_Back then,_" the voice whispered drearily, "_you could get by with just skinned knees._"

Not quite sure what that meant he questioned, "What do you mean by 'back then'?"

Still the blackness endured. The genderless voice persisted, "_What about now, can you get up?_" It had almost sounded anxious, perhaps even sinister – if an emotionless voice could sound sinister.

"What do you mean by 'back then'?" Cloud repeated. "What about now? Who are you? What is happening to me?"

"_Don't worry about me,_" it whispered, the serenity back in its tone. "_You just worry about yourself now._"

Assuming he would not get any farther trying to argue with a voice inside of his head, he agreed. "Okay, I'll guess I'll give it a try."

A voice outside of his mind, outside of the blackness, suddenly spoke. "Oh! You're moving!" This voice was silky, certainly a girl's. She had sounded surprised.

Knowing that he had heard someone, that he may still be alive, Cloud tried his hardest to move, and he did. The voice in his head continued, "_Well how about that? Take it slow now. Little by little._"

The blackness started to fade. He could see the outline of a girl hovering over him. She waved her hand somewhat frantically and said, "Hello, hello?"

Cloud, ecstatic that he wasn't paralyzed and even happier that he wasn't worm food, asked the voice, "Wait . . . who are you? What . . . are you?"

But before he could receive an answer, the darkness lifted.

2

He was lying on top of a garden. Debris and dust filled the air and ground around him. He looked around and noticed that he was in a church. It didn't look like it had been used in a very long time; most of the pews were covered with a thick layer of dust. Some of the stained-glass windows had been broken, presumably by children from the slums. Above him he saw a number of crisscrossing rafters and above them he saw a gaping hole in the ceiling.

_I should be dead._

His body ached, his head throbbed, but he felt more than lucky to be alive. He looked at the girl who was standing above him. She had emerald eyes, a pale-pink dress, and a cherry-red jacket.

_Do I know her? She looks so familiar._

He sat up and was even more surprised to find that nothing felt broken. In fact, the more he stretched out the better he felt.

He assumed this girl - this very recognizable girl - had helped him, most likely saving his life.

_But how?_

The one thing that did still hurt right now was his head. So much in fact that thinking things through seemed like an almost impossible task at the moment.

He managed to put the one truly obvious question into his aching mind.

_How the hell did I live through that? I should be nothing but bones and goo._

But he wasn't, and maybe that was the important thing. At this point it was probably best to figure out where to go from here, and then he could pester his brain with questions until this was all figured out - until it was all understood.

He looked around his vicinity, trying to get a grip on himself. It was at this time that the girl finally spoke. "You okay?" she asked. His eyes focused while he stared at this beautiful and angelic girl. She explained, "This is a church in the Sector 5 slums. You suddenly fell through the roof . . . gave me quite a scare."

Still a little dazed, he looked around the church and then back to her. ". . . I came crashing down?"

"The decaying wood in the roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky. I'm amazed to see you alive."

He looked at the ground beneath him. He was indeed sitting in a patch of flowers. "Flower bed . . . is this yours?" He slowly stood up, waiting for the pain to jolt through him.

It didn't.

He apologized, still trying to remember who she was. "Sorry about all this."

She smiled. It was the kind of smile people living in the slums normally didn't have. "That's all right. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place." She peered around the room. "They say you can't grow grass or flowers in Midgar. But for some reason the flowers have no trouble blooming here." She gazed all around the dusty church. "I love it here."

Then Cloud remembered. He had met her on the upper plate after the first bombing mission. He had bought a flower from her. Perhaps because of his daze he hadn't put two-and-two together.

She said aloud, seeming to read his mind, "So, we meet again. Do you remember me?"

He picked up one of the colorful flowers that had been knocked out of the dirt. "Yeah, I remember you. You were selling flowers."

She jumped in excitement. "Aww, you do remember! Thanks for buying a flower from me." Her eyes twinkled, entrancing his attention to them.

His gaze moved from her eyes to the crimson ribbon tied neatly into her brown hair. The tiny white ball was still hanging within the ribbon.

"You remember that you asked me about that, too?" she asked, smiling and noticing that his eyes were fixed on her ribbon.

He nodded. "So it is materia. I've never seen white orbs before. Everything that I've ever used has been blue, green, or red."

As she brought her hands back to untie her ribbon she asked, "So you've used materia before?"

"Yeah, only on a few occasions though. Like I said, I haven't really used a wide variety but I have never even heard of white materia before. Nowadays I suppose you can find all different kinds of materia, what with all the Mako extraction and what not."

"But most people don't know how to use it," the girl said.

He nodded. "It may seem like simple magic, but it is very dangerous and takes a lot of concentration. You need to know whatever specific orb you're using through-and-through before you can do anything with it." He glanced at the ivory-white materia orb in her pale hands.

She held her hand out and showed him the materia. It was just about the same size as a pearl, perhaps a tiny bit bigger. She giggled. "Yeah, but mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing."

"Good for nothing?" he questioned. "You probably just don't know how to use it."

She held it against her chest, over her heart. "No, I do . . . it just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's." She looked up at the tattered shards of wood encircling the section of ceiling that Cloud had fallen through, and said, "Say, I feel like talking, are you up for it?" She winked at him. He smiled. "After all, here we are meeting again, right?"

He held up his arms and smirked. "I don't mind."

_Amazing. One minute I'm confident that I'm dead and the next I'm flirting with a flower girl._

She smiled back and knelt down to check the flowers again. Not ten seconds later she stood up quickly, as if just remembering something, and yelled, "Oh! Now that I think about it . . . we don't even know each other's names yet, do we?" She bowed her head slightly and said, "My name is Aeris Gainsborough. I'm a flower girl. Nice to meet you." She grabbed the sides of her pink dress and curtsied.

Standing up straight he replied, "The name's Cloud Strife. Uh . . . me, I do a little bit of everything."

She giggled. "Oh . . . a jack of all trades."

"Yeah, I do whatever's needed." He saw her look over his shoulder towards the entrance of the church. Her giggle faded out to a tiny chuckle. She sighed and moved her focus back to his eyes. The glee and ease were suddenly gone as if they hadn't been there in the first place. He looked at her, his head cocked sideways, and asked, "What's wrong?"

As he turned around towards the entrance she softly whispered, "Sorry . . . I just . . ."

Cloud saw a man standing in the doorway.

3

As Cloud approached him the man stood motionless. He wore a sharp blue suit. The man was skinny and had long red hair that was kept out of his eyes with a small black headband that sported the Shinra logo on it. Now almost face-to-face he stared hard at Cloud.

Aeris yelled from behind him, "Cloud, no! Don't let it get to you!" She ran over and stood behind him, holding his arm with both of her hands.

Something about the man and how frightened Aeris appeared to be of him caused Cloud to think, even though it still physically hurt to do so. Before he could conjure up any noteworthy thoughts, Aeris said, "Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard? I mean, you do everything, right?"

He reluctantly turned from the man and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, that's right."

She grabbed onto him again, still occasionally looking at the man in the front of the church. The man was still motionless, silent. She continued, almost pleadingly, "Get me out of here then. Please take me home."

"Alright I will, but it'll cost ya," he teased. He grinned and was glad to see some of that happiness leisurely move back into her emerald eyes.

Letting out a tiny smile of her own she replied, "Well then, let's see." Her grin widened. "How about if I go out with you once?"

Cloud immediately felt a rush of hormones deny him the choice to say no, while also accepting that Tifa's face had made a brief appearance in his throbbing head.

He nodded towards Aeris, and then confronted the tall, red-haired man in the navy blue suit.

4

The man's thin, dark eyes stared endlessly through him. Cloud looked at him and said, "I don't know who you are, and . . . you don't know me . . ."

"Excuse me?" the man spat.

Cloud suddenly felt overwhelmed with confusion, and realized he'd barely been talking audibly.

"I suggest you step aside," the man continued, looking past Cloud and towards Aeris.

Cloud stared hard at the man. "Wait . . . I do know you . . . I think."

"I don't care . . ."

Like a rod of lightning a synapse in his brain shot a memory as fast as the speed of light at him. He looked away, then back at the motionless man. Cloud interrupted, "Oh yeah . . . I know you. That uniform . . ."

Walking in single file three Shinra guards entered the church. Standing behind the man he could hear one whisper to the other, "Hey sis, this one's a little weird."

Another nodded enthusiastically. "You can say that again."

The red-haired man still stared at Cloud. "I won't say this again . . ."

Yelling out loud, breaking the silence of the sacred place, Cloud said, "Shut up!" He closed his eyes and then looked back at the man in the suit. "I know who you are, you Shinra spy!"

The soldier who had spoken before put his arm on the man in the suit and said, "Reno, want him taken out?"

The man in the blue suit, Reno, appearing to gaze around at the old church, admiring its holiness, said grimly, "I haven't decided yet." He finally pulled his gaze from Cloud and looked at one of the guards. "Does he look like he can put up a fight?"

The guard shrugged. "He looks a little stupid to me . . . but I'd say it's in our best interest to kill him before we take the girl."

As if Cloud and Aeris weren't standing ten feet away, Reno continued, "We will do nothing that causes any harm to the girl. Hojo would be very cross with me if one of his specimens was injured."

Cloud blamed his paining head for the confusion of the conversation. More importantly he wondered if he was in good enough condition to fight. Walking around had been all right but when it came down to it he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle a Turk and three guards in a brawl.

_And that's what this man is . . . a Turk._

His palms were sweaty, his lips were dry. He was slowly moving his hand in the direction of his sword when Aeris pulled him sharply from behind. Holding his hand she ran, forcing him to follow her into the back of the church. While running she quickly pushed him ahead of her and yelled, "Stay in front of me! They won't try to shoot me!" Passing the pews Cloud heard her whisper, "The flowers will be ruined . . ."

Running by the potentially-ruined flowers and holding her hand, Cloud looked back at the soldiers. They weren't moving.

As they reached a doorway Aeris shouted, "The exit is back here!"

Still holding Aeris' hand, Cloud looked at the ominous man once more and then followed Aeris into the back of the church, away from the Turk and the Shinra guards.

_What is a Turk doing here?_

5

Reno walked forward, still looking around gaily. He had always liked the church and the flowers that grew inside of it.

He checked his watch and knew that Heidegger would be calling for a status check any minute now.

Ahead of him the target and the unknown man ran out of view through a wooden door in the wall. While his job – and most likely his life – depended on catching the girl, he was happy to know that he still contained a degree of patience within himself.

If he had made a motion to go after the two, the guards accompanying him would most likely have opened fire on her, ending everything right there.

But no, Reno Joolston was a professional. Reno Joolston was a Turk.

He had to take in account that the girl was now bringing around some kind of escort with her.

_Which is why she probably became bold enough to come back to the church,_ he thought, still gazing ahead.

He would just have to let Heidegger know that the situation had changed – which Heidegger would not take well.

But what was he to do? He had been told that finding this girl had been more important than his life and that the only thing more important than finding her was bringing her back to Headquarters safely.

Who knew if that could be achieved with this new yellow-haired man now in the picture.

_This new yellow-haired man . . . with those blue-green eyes . . ._

As he stepped into the flower patch, his face soured. He said back to the soldiers, "They were . . . Mako eyes." He walked on through the church, reaching the doorway. He said aloud, "This church is the only beautiful place in the slums I'd bet." He looked back at the flower patch, which he had just walked through and said, "Aright . . . back to work. And don't step on the flowers!"

The three soldiers, having just seen Reno walk through the flower patch, laughed heartily.

"Hey Reno, you just stepped on them!" one said. He let out a jovial chuckle.

"They're all ruined!" said another.

The last one added while still laughing, "Haha! You're gonna catch Holy-Hell!"

Reno glared at them only a second or two before they silenced. They then began running alongside of him towards the back of the church, in search of the mysterious man with the Mako eyes and the girl who had been unattainable for the last fifteen years.

6

The back of the church, an immense and shadowy area, was full of dust, rubble, and debris. During its prime it had been used mainly for storage and contained one small enclosed room in which the old priests had used to change and prepare for the church services. All along the walls ran a wooden staircase that circled up and around until ending at the platform in the attic. These stairs had hardly ever been used before other than to repair a leak in the ceiling or to fix the old, massive bell that used to loom above. The stairs also led to a short landing on the second floor, which was more of a platform than a floor.

Thankfully, although most of the areas of the church had been badly damaged, the stairs were in reasonably good condition.

As Cloud and Aeris ran cautiously around the mess the ex-SOLDIER looked up at the landing and then to the attic above. A huge gaping hole could be seen in a section of the staircase where a Shinra missile had crashed through. This explained most of the debris that was scattered everywhere, but it certainly did not explain the cruelty of the Shinra for having any reason to attack a church.

They reached the platform on the second floor when they heard Reno, along with the three Shinra guards, enter beneath them. Cloud looked at Aeris, the lone flower girl, pondering thoughts about what they would want this girl for.

Aeris looked at him and said, "They're not going to let us get away!" She took a breath and shook her head. "I knew it was foolish to come back here . . ."

Cloud put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey . . . if you hadn't been here I probably would've died."

She smiled, but there was still a vast amount of fear overshadowing her eyes.

One of the guards below shouted, "Over there! They're over there!" The three soldiers immediately started running up the stairs.

Reno on the other hand appeared to be having a fierce conversation on his cellular phone. He disappeared through the door that led back to the front of the church.

One of the guards yelled again, still chasing Aeris, "The Ancient is getting away! Attack the other! Make sure the Ancient is undamaged!"

Cloud had heard it.

_Ancient . . ._

He turned to question Aeris but was silenced when gunfire erupted and blazed over their heads, splintering the wooden walls of the church.

"Don't shoot the girl!" one of the guards shouted over the clamor of gunfire, and then took a shaky shot himself in Cloud's direction.

Running at full speed now and dodging bullets Cloud and Aeris soon reached the top floor. Aeris looked at Cloud and pointed in the direction of the rafters towards the hole in the ceiling where he had fallen through.

"We can go out through there!" she said, pointing to the bulky puncture in the timber ceiling.

Before they could make any attempt at exiting the church Cloud knew that he would have to deal with the guards. There would be no point in evading them and going out through the roof, for he and Aeris would be followed wherever they tried to get away to.

_I'm not going to let that happen,_ he thought. _This girl saved my life. She's the reason I'm breathing right now._

He saw a large steel-rimmed barrel near the top of the last flight of stairs and started running for it. Watching and trying to time out the push, he waited for the guards to get just a little closer. When they finally reached the last set of stairs he pushed the barrel down, knocking two of the guards back down the stairs. After a bone-crushing roll the two fell through the hole in the floor, crashing to the ground after a three story drop.

The other guard that hadn't been hit charged at Cloud. Apparently out of bullets from all of the reckless shooting, the guard grabbed for his sword and swung. Cloud immediately ducked out of the way and snatched the man from behind. Squeezing with full force he choked the guard's neck until his face turned red before pitching the man off of the rafters. The guard landed hard on the dusty wooden floor.

Aeris yelled for Cloud, and they both balanced their way across the shaky rafters. Looking down Cloud could see that Reno was not in sight, his phone conversation somehow more important than whatever he had had planned for Aeris.

They ran until they were directly over the flower patch and directly under the hole in the ceiling. Carefully he hoisted Aeris up through the hole and then pulled himself through after her.

7

After they had escaped the church and had run along a few warping rooftops, Cloud thought they had gone far enough to take a minute to rest.

Sitting on the roof of a graying, rusty structure and catching their breaths, Cloud badly wanted to know what was going on. He waited for her to speak though, admiring her bravery for what she had just endured, seeing how this couldn't possibly be the first time something like this had happened to her.

Through heavy breathing, Aeris let out a very weak and staid laugh. She said, "Ha, ha . . . they're looking for me again."

Glad that she had started to explain herself and possibly what had just occurred, he responded, "You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?"

"No," she said, frowning.

"How often?"

She shrugged. "Well . . . let's just say it's been a while . . ."

He explained, "They're the Turks." She didn't respond so he continued, "The Turks are an organization in Shinra. They scout for possible SOLDIER candidates."

"This violently? I _thought_ they were trying to kidnap someone," she remarked sarcastically.

"They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side," he said. "Spying, murder, you know it."

"They look like it." She looked away from him, looking around the area. The current scene was so much quieter than it had been in the church that the silence seemed almost overwhelmingly.

There was a specific question he wanted to ask her, but instead he continued looking at her and questioned, "But why are they after you? There must be a reason, right?"

_Ancient . . . they had said 'Ancient',_ he thought, wondering how she would have responded if he had asked her that question.

Sighing, and glancing back over at him, Aeris replied, "No, not really. . ." Her voice grew louder and perceptively more cheerful. "I think they believe I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER!"

He joked back, enjoying the sight of her pleasant face. "Maybe you do! You want to join?"

She laughed despondently. "I'm not sure. If I did I'd rather not get selected by those people."

He stood up, took her hand, and pulled her up with him. "Well then, we've been on this roof for long enough . . . we'd better go."

8

The houses - and only in the slums could you call these failing structures houses - were so close to each other in this section of the slums that Cloud and Aeris were able to vacate the area of the church by running from rooftop to rooftop, never having to move on the ground. Watching closing, Cloud made sure he had Aeris get down any time that anyone was approaching too close to them.

He had been running along and watching the vicinity almost too carefully he realized, for after a few houses he had started to get ahead of her.

He heard behind him, "Wait! Wait I said!" He stopped and watched her slowly, yet carefully, catch up to him, jumping each gap slower than the last. Puffing and wheezing, she said, "Slow . . . down. Don't . . . don't . . . don't leave me . . ."

He crossed his arms over his chest and remarked, "Funny . . . I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?" He laughed, noticing the change of expression on her face, her eyes thinning exaggeratedly.

Staring at him and trying to hold back a grin, she said, "Oh! You're terrible!"

Cloud continued laughing, and then helped her over the last roof so that they were standing on the same one.

All around them the wreckage and disgust of the slums sat luminously in the makeshift 'sunlight' of the scattered lampposts. He sighed, noticing a small child and his father sifting through a garbage heap nearby.

Thankfully breaking his concentration on the sadness around him, Aeris inquired, "Cloud . . . were you ever in SOLDIER?"

"I used to be," he answered, half-surprised. "How did you guess?"

Looking deep into his eyes she replied, "Your eyes. They have that strange greenish-blue glow."

He nodded and felt a slight tremor ripple through his body. "Yeah. That's a sign of those who have been infused with Mako, a mark of SOLDIER. But, how did you know about that?" As he asked he felt a tiny stinging twinge of pain bound through his head.

"Oh, nothing," she said quietly.

He saw her start to get fidgety, as if she were an eight year old girl with a tremendous secret to keep. "Nothing?" he posed.

She grinned. "Right, nothing! Now come on, let's go . . . bodyguard."

9

After running and hopping over a few more shacks, Aeris signaled that they were getting close to their destination. They carefully waited until no one was in sight, and then jumped off, landing on the hard dirt ground. "Whew! We finally made it off!" She looked at him and pointed to their right. "My house is over there! Let's hurry before they get here!"

They cautiously ran along the side of the road for a while in the direction she had pointed them in. The streets and houses looked the same in this sector as they did in every other.

Filth . . . everywhere.

Nothing could describe it more precisely than simply stating and observing that the land of the slums was filled with filth and poverty. It was a low standard of living for any species, let alone humans.

They entered a circular part of the sector, where various houses and 'businesses' were built along the outer rim of the sphere. Other houses were clumped together in the center, giving the area a crude donut shape from a bird's eye view.

As soon as they entered the spherical area they heard an eerie moaning and groaning. Knowing that they could have been being chased, but also curious about the sound, they slowed down.

To their left, in a 'house' that had apparently been made from an old storm drain, the moaning sounded out violently. They both slowly moved their heads in and saw an old man on his back, holding his stomach in agony. The man's bed was soaked with sweat. The stench along with the sight made Cloud queasy.

Aeris wanted to help the man, but what could she do? The man hadn't seen them so they both slowly backed out of the drain and away from the man.

_Just another victim of living in the slums,_ she thought. _A victim . . ._

While in the random house she had noticed something peculiar on the man's left hand. Tattooed on it was the number '2' in thick black ink. It seemed peculiar only because a man in the slums usually didn't have enough gil to eat, as it appeared for this man, let alone the extra gil that it would cost to get a tattoo.

Without mentioning this to Cloud she quickly took a deep breath and tried once again to forget about the suffering that existed all around her, not knowing that Cloud was also trying to do the same.

Crossing over the rest of the circular section of town they soon passed through a small path of dead brush and decaying trees.

"Cloud," she said, stopping abruptly.

"Yeah?"

"I need you to do me a favor."

He looked past her and saw nothing but another pile of garbage. "Okay. What's up?"

"I just need you to close your eyes." When a look of confusion crossed his face she quickly said, "It's not that I don't trust you . . . it's just better this way."

Cloud shrugged and closed his eyes. He felt Aeris take his hand after a few seconds and lead him forward.

When Aeris then told him that he could open his eyes moments later the sight in front of him forced Cloud to stop dead in his tracks.

All thoughts of the anguish and suffering within the slums vanished without a trace.

10

A beautiful cottage stood gloriously before him, a gem that would stand out anywhere, especially the slums. It reminded him of the old cottages that used to stand at the base of Mt. Nibel, oversized yet stunning. The house was a pastel yellow with dark magenta spread evenly around the door and the many scattered windows.

Next to the two-story structure was a small vegetable garden, along with a tiny pond. He would've dropped to his knees having not seen anything this precious in months, but Aeris grabbed onto his arm and pulled him through the front door.

The inside was even lovelier than the outside. Everything seemed to be custom designed and made only from the nature that existed around them.

This brought another issue to Cloud's already question-loaded mind.

_How is it that the land flourishes here and in the church when it's mostly dead everywhere else in the slums?_

He then remembered that before he had closed his eyes all he had seen was a pile of trash.

_Are we even in the slums anymore?_

Once again the word 'Ancient' popped into his head.

A woman in her early sixties stood by the table in the center of the room they had walked into.

Aeris looked at her and said, "Hi, Mom. I'm home." She looked at Cloud and said, "This is my mom, Elmyra." The woman walked over to them and smiled at Cloud. Aeris looked at her and said, "This is Cloud, my bodyguard."

The smile vanished from Elmyra's face. She questioned, "Bodyguard? You mean you were followed again?" Running to Aeris and touching her face, she continued very mother-like, "Are you all right!? You're not hurt, are you!? Aeris, are you okay?"

Aeris hugged her and smiled. "Whoa . . . I'm all right, Ma. I had Cloud with me."

Looking from Aeris to Cloud, Elmyra again smiled. "Thank you, Cloud."

"Just another day in the slums," Aeris said, covering up Cloud's silence as he glanced around the room.

Elmyra continued, "Aeris, I told you I . . ."

Clearing her throat, Aeris gave her mother a peculiar look, which in turn caused Elmyra to stop talking and laugh lightheartedly.

Aeris more obviously made the facial expression again.

Elmyra shook her head, looked at Cloud who was standing patiently beside her, and then walked up the stairs, having gotten the 'please-leave-the-room-without-embarrassing-me' hint from Aeris.

As he looked around the room Cloud realized that it was getting late. After his fall he had most likely been unconscious for longer than it had seemed.

His pondering and sightseeing of the room was interrupted when Aeris asked, "So, what are you going to do now?"

He focused his eyes on hers. "Is Sector 7 far from here?" he asked. "I want to go to Tifa Lockhart's bar, the Seventh Heaven."

Aeris, twiddling her fingers, started fidgeting again and questioned, "Is Tifa . . . a girl?"

"Yeah."

"A girl . . . friend?" she questioned, still not facing him.

He shook his head. "No, not a girlfriend." Her constant squirming made him grin, a slight feeling of warmth rushed through his fingers.

Blushing, Aeris said, "Oh, that's nice." He stared at her, most likely about to make the situation awkwardly silent.

Before that could happen she looked up at him and said, "Let's see, Sector 7? I'll show you the way."

Amazed and shocked, he replied, "Ha! You gotta be kidding. What . . . do you want to put yourself in danger again?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm used to it."

"Used to it!?" Now _he_ was the one getting fidgety. "Well, I don't know. Getting help from a girl . . ." He grinned when he saw her mouth drop.

She gasped. "A girl!? What do you mean by that!? You expect me to just sit here and watch you go, after hearing you say something like that!?" She walked over to the staircase and yelled up, "Mom, I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7. I'll be back in a while."

Elmyra hastily walked down the stairs, shaking her head the same way she had been while going up. She looked at Aeris and sighed deeply. "But dear . . ." Aeris smiled at her, which was hard ammunition for a mother to shield herself from. "I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind."

Aeris cheered. "Alright! You know it!"

Her mother continued, "But if you must go, why don't you go tomorrow? It's getting late."

Aeris agreed. "Yeah, you're right, Mom."

"Aeris, please go and make the extra bed for Cloud." Aeris smiled and quickly shot up the stairs, excited that her mom was going to let Cloud spend the night.

_Um . . . don't I get any say in this?_ the mercenary questioned to himself.

Elmyra walked close to Cloud and whispered, "That glow in your eyes . . . you're from SOLDIER, right?"

"Yeah. Rather, I used to be."

She sighed, a very typical mother-sigh, and said, "I don't know how to say this, but . . . would you please leave here tonight?" She paused and then finished, "Without telling Aeris."

Cloud, not about to go against an older woman, and already in over his head, nodded. He walked upstairs where he found Aeris making his bed.

"You need to go through Sector 6 to get to Sector 7," she said while covering the bed with the last sheet. "Sector 6 is a little dangerous so you'd better get some rest tonight." He walked into the room and stood next to the small bed.

He yawned.

She smiled.

Before Aeris left she turned to him and said, "Cloud . . ." Gazing at him like a princess would gaze at her prince she softly said, "Goodnight."

She closed his door and entered her room gleefully. She couldn't stop smiling and knew that after a day like this she would not be able to get to sleep. She didn't care though, for she had nice things to think about.

Cloud on the other hand, thinking about his day, took in a deep breath and was thankful to have all of his limbs.

He unhurriedly sat down and whispered to himself, "Wow . . . what an interesting day." He closed his eyes, not intending to sleep.

For a half minute or so he thought some more about the events of the day. These thoughts were soon joined by questions about Tifa and Barret and what had happened to them after the reactor's explosion.

_I hope they're okay._

He opened his eyes for a second, only to find how heavy his eyelids had become.

_Too many questions . . . and no answers._

He tried for a minute or so to think about the peculiar events of the day some more, but instead he fell fast asleep, and slept better than any child on the Planet did that night.


	14. 1-14 A Chance of Plans

14. A Change of Plans

1

"The canyon creature is being transferred now, sir," Alrik Heidegger announced, walking as briskly as his bulky form allowed towards the desk of Felix Shinra. His forest-green suit looked crisp, even if it was still bulging at the seams.

Shinra looked up from his desk, expressionless. "Did we lose either of the Turks that were sent? I trust Tseng to do his duty but I'm rather unfamiliar with the other man."

Heidegger stopped in front of the desk. "The other . . . I believe Pitts was sent, sir." He paused, straining his brow as he considered. "Mickey Pitts, sir."

"Yes . . . Pitts," Shinra acknowledged. "Quite the cool cat it seems."

"Indeed, sir. Some of the others are calling him 'Rude'."

Breathing out a controlled chuckle, Shinra said, "Ah yes . . . 'Rude' does seem appropriate." He took a second to polish one of the buttons on his pristine jacket with one of his large thumbs. "So they were both uninjured?"

"Yes, sir. Everything went smoothly," Heidegger answered. "The new recruit we had spying for us in Cosmo Canyon . . ." He trailed off, once again trying to match a face to a name. "Elena. The new recruit, Elena Poplar, set up the majority of the operation. She contacted the Gongaga source, a man named Bridgeman, and found out everything she needed to know about the canyon creature's travelling habits."

"Impressive," Shinra said.

"Indeed, sir. Once the man Bridgeman was offered a fair sum of gil he quickly allowed us to move in, which allowed an easy capture of Hojo's newest specimen."

Shinra scribbled something down on a pad of paper in front of him. "Reward the woman, but don't promote her to full-time Turk status yet."

Heidegger saluted. "Yes, sir." He looked into Shinra's eyes for a moment and then began to turn around, intending to make his way to the exit.

"Alrik?" Shinra said. "Are you going somewhere?"

Heidegger sighed and turned back to the President. "No, sir . . ."

Before he could dribble off some poor excuse, Shinra interjected, "What about the Ancient?"

Taking a breath, Heidegger said, "There are new developments within that specific operation to consider."

"New developments such as . . ."

Heidegger forced himself to look into the President's eyes. "It appears that every single one of the members of the rebel group AVALANCHE are still alive . . ."

Shinra closed his eyes. This was not what he wanted to hear.

"Sir . . ." Heidegger said, before Shinra silenced him with a wave of his arm.

The President had been facing two main obstacles lately. The first was the search for the Ancient, while the second was the meddlesome group that called themselves AVALANCHE.

And now to make things even worse, it appeared that the two obstacles were beginning to intertwine between each other.

And surely that would make things even more difficult than they already were.

Finally looking up at Heidegger, he said, "I'm growing very tired of Reno and his failures, and I'm even more tired of those damn rebels from the slums!"

"Sir, I . . ." Heidegger began.

"No . . ." Shinra snapped. "You will listen to me, Alrik!" He stood up from his desk. "I am sick to death hearing about AVALANCHE. I can think of nothing more personally satisfying then watching them all die horrible deaths." He paused. "I've had Corneo sending out his goons all over the slums, trying to find out where the group's hideout is located. Once it's found, I will stop at nothing in my effort to exterminate every single one of them." He felt his face growing warm and sat down. "Now what are these new complications in the matter of the Ancient?"

It took Heidegger a moment, but after he had composed himself, he replied, "The yellow-haired ex-SOLDIER . . ."

"Cloud Strife," the President said.

"Yes. Reno described that man when I had called him for a status report. He says that the ex-SOLDIER was protecting the girl, and that he also helped her escape the church in the slums where she had been located."

Shinra sighed. "I watched that boy drop to his death, Alrik. He fell over a thousand feet."

"Yes, sir," Heidegger said awkwardly.

Shinra again had to turn away from the fat man in front of him, disgusted with him.

He had watched the ex-SOLDIER, Cloud, drop to his death, yet now he was serving as the Ancient's personal bodyguard.

_Would this string of bad luck ever end?_

Knowing that Hojo would be upset - seeing as how they already had captured one of the specimens that he would need for the new experiment - Shinra nevertheless knew that his entire focus for the moment must exclusively be on the rebel group AVALANCHE.

He again looked at the large man in front of him. "Tell Reno he's off the operation."

Heidegger took a step back. "Sir?"

Shinra waved his arm to stop the man from talking. "It's becoming quite clear to me that the root of all of our problems is the persistence of that damn rebel group." He felt a monumental headache making its way to his temples. "We'll continue the search for the Ancient at a later time. For now I want all of my resources concentrated on crushing AVALANCHE."

"Yes, sir."

"I will not be made a fool," Shinra said, slamming a fist against the desk. "Contact Corneo and see what his men have found out. If he has nothing interesting to say about the matter . . . kill him."

Heidegger's eyes widened. "Kill him . . .?"

"Yes," the President shouted. "Kill anyone who stands in the way! I want to find those damn rebels and then I want to kill them!"

Heidegger was still for a moment, and then said, "I will do everything in my power, sir."

Just as he was about to salute, Shinra shot out of his chair and hollered, "You certainly will do everything that you can!"

Heidegger retreated a few steps.

Still behind his desk, physically fuming, Shinra screamed, "Get out of here!" He watched the large man quickly make his way to the other side of the floor towards the elevator. But before Heidegger was out of sight, the President bellowed, "And if you fail doing everything in your goddamn power, Alrik . . . I will slaughter you like the fat pig that you are . . ."

2

When Heidegger reached the elevator he hit the button that would take him to the lobby. He had never been screamed at or threatened like that before, and he was _not_ happy.

Striding out of the elevator he dared any of the workers standing around to get in his way.

When none did he plowed through the front entrance and made his way out into the street.

The sidewalk in front of the building was bare, so instead he made his way into the four-lane road ahead of him. During his walk he felt himself continuously clenching his large fists.

He was warming them up.

Walking out into the road he stepped in front of an oncoming car, forcing the driver to slam on his brakes as well as his horn.

Heidegger stood his ground, his beaded eyes staring ferociously into the driver's.

When he saw the driver waving his arms around and moving his mouth violently, Heidegger made his move.

Taking one of his clenched fists he slammed the hood of the car in front of him. And after pausing a moment, he did it again, feeling the satisfying pain in his thick knuckles.

On the second hit the driver of the car was opening his door, screaming fiercely at Heidegger.

When Heidegger again slammed his fist into the car the man approached him, his hands turning into fists.

Smiling, Heidegger grabbed the man by the throat and slammed his head into the hood, silencing his rage-filled shouts as well as the insubstantial threat he had posed to Heidegger.

With the man sprawled half on the hood Heidegger repeatedly drove his elbow into the man's neck, hard enough to shake the car – hard enough to crack bone.

At this point in time his actions became a hazy blur, and Heidegger would barely remember the next few minutes of the altercation later on.

What he wouldn't remember was that he had taken the now-unconscious man and had placed his head on the dark street. He had then lifted the front end of the car just enough to fit the man's bleeding head under one of the tires.

What he wouldn't remember was the sound the man's beaten head had made after twenty seconds, when the weight of the car had finally crushed the skull like an oversized egg, spilling yolk-like brain matter onto the road.

What he wouldn't remember was the crowd that had gathered and had watched the entire confrontation take place.

And what Heidegger didn't remember . . . Heidegger didn't care about.


	15. 1-15 A Foreboding Feeling

15. A Foreboding Feeling

1

Tifa didn't feel right.

It wasn't only the fact that she wouldn't have time to search for Cloud - who she still hoped was somehow alive – it was that the current situation seemed to be leading her and the others into something much bigger than any of them realized.

She made her way here and there within the Seventh Heaven, getting ready for the first phase of their next operation. A quick pass of a mirror showed her the ridiculous amount of makeup she'd painted onto her face, as well as the low-cut dress she was sporting.

_All part of the plan,_ she thought.

"Morning, Tifa," Marlene said cheerfully as she skipped past, her fifth or sixth lap around the small room of the bar.

"Hi, honey," Tifa replied as she fidgeted with one of her dangling earrings.

Marlene had been the reason why the man spying on her and the others hadn't been killed right where she was now standing.

Once the black-clad man had regained consciousness Barret had pumped as much information out of him as he could.

They'd found out that the man wasn't exactly a Shinra employee, but that his profession wasn't far off seeing as he carried out various jobs for Don Corneo, who was Shinra-employed himself.

Corneo was quite the enigmatic figure within the slums, seeing as his wealth and position of power could have allowed him to live up on the plate. Instead he chose to live in a mansion in Sector 6, which sat close to the border of the sector and was surrounded by the slum market he owned.

Tifa knew little about the man, other than the repulsive stories that made their way around the slums. And it was with that knowledge that had helped the rebels to set up their next operation.

2

Barret had shook the spy until he had admitted working for Corneo, but the black-clad man contained very little else that concerned the rebel team.

'I just needed the extra gil,' the man had said. 'The Don needed eight of us to scout each sector of the slums . . .'

'What the hell for?' Barret had hollered, shaking the man until his eyes bulged.

'I dunno,' the man had said. 'I'm just a nobody within that circle. All I know is that he was ordered by one of the higher-ups to find out where the hideout was of some anti-Shinra group.'

At that response, Jessie had said, 'Some anti-Shinra group, huh?'

Nodding, the man had said, 'Well, yeah . . . AVALANCHE. He was told something about needing to find out where the AVALANCHE hideout was . . .'

It was at that moment that Barret had raised his gunarm to the man's head and shouted, 'And what were you plannin' on tellin' Mr. Corneo?'

Trembling, the man had shaken his head and said, 'Nothing, man! Nothing. I don't know nothin' and I haven't found nothin'!"

Obviously not believing what the man had said, Barret had then brought his gunarm to within a foot of the man's sweating face. But before he had had a chance to fire, Marlene had come walking into the bar.

'Papa?' she had said, a small waver in her voice.

As soon as she had walked into the room the spy must have known that Barret wasn't going to kill him in front of her.

Using the distraction to his advantage he had pushed away from Biggs and Wedge, sped past the shocked and pallid child, and then raced out of the bar as well as the sector.

Barret didn't blame Marlene for the situation they were now in, but his attitude displayed enough of the rage that was coursing throughout his monstrous body.

Throughout the evening they had devised a plan using what little information they had on Don Corneo and the shadier businesses within his Shinra-owned market.

3

Tifa was shaken out of her thoughts as a large, brown hand came down firmly on her shoulder. She turned away from the mirror and saw Barret.

"You alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah . . . I mean, I guess I have to be, right?" She shrugged half-heartedly. "We need to find out what the Shinra may already know . . . and then go from there."

"Yeah, we do," Barret responded. "But I don't mean just about that." He took a breath. "I wanna know if you're alright . . . concerning that . . . concerning Cloud."

Trying her best to keep the mounting emotion out of her face Tifa replied, "I'm not . . . but I don't think I should be, you know?"

Barret nodded. "Yeah . . ."

"But I understand what I have to do . . . and I'm prepared for anything."

"Aright, good," Barret said. "Then I think it's time we start making our way to the border of the sector. I'll walk with you, but once we get to the border you'll be travelling the rest of the way to Corneo's mansion in one of his escort carriages."

Tifa laughed unhappily. "I'm surprised he responded so quickly to our request."

"Yeah, well," Barret said, "if word around the slums is anything close to the truth, this Corneo fellow seems to be quite the ladies man . . ."

Tifa wanted to smile at that, but found she couldn't shake the foreboding feeling trickling through her overwrought body.


	16. 1-16 From Sector to Sector

16. From Sector to Sector

1

Darkness again snuck into his head, but this time Cloud didn't seem to mind it. In fact, he welcomed the peaceful rest, enjoying every minute of it. This was what his body needed and he wasn't about to go against its wishes. Terrible things happened to people who didn't listen to what their bodies were telling them, and Cloud refused to be one of those people.

Out of some unstable corner in his mind the androgynous, tranquil voice, briefly scaring him, said, "_Seem pretty tired . . ._" As much as the alien voice had frightened him, he was in such a state that it really didn't matter.

"Yeah," he agreed. He _was_ tired.

The voice went on, "_Haven't slept in a bed like this . . . in a long time._"

Speaking back to it he said, "Oh, yeah."

He thought about the last time that he had been in such a comfortable bed. But whether he was actually about to remember it or not, the voice inside of his mind helped out and showed him the way.

"_Ever since that time,_" it said, showing Cloud a vivid playback of a time in his noteworthy past.

2

In a cozy one-room home, much bigger than one would think having heard the term 'one-room', Cloud laid on a bed speaking to his mother.

It was five years ago, when he had come back with SOLDIER to investigate a problem with the town's Mako reactor. The reactor was built near the pinnacle of Mt. Nibel, which overshadowed his hometown, Nibelheim, on the Western continent.

Cloud's mom, a middle-aged woman with blonde hair the same shade as her son's, was across from the bed in the kitchen area cooking up something that smelled better than anything Shinra had cooked in the past two years.

"My how you've grown," his mom said to him, turning away from the wooden stove. "I'll bet the girls never leave you alone." She winked at him.

He raised his head from the cozy pillow for a second and said, "Not really . . ." He laid back down, thinking about how comfortable this bed was compared to the scrawny cots they were given at the SOLDIER headquarters in Midgar.

Pacing around and shaking her head his mom said, ". . . I'm worried about you . . . there are a lot of temptations in the city." She stopped pacing and looked directly at him. "I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."

He smirked. "I'm all right, Ma."

"You should have . . . an older girlfriend," she persisted, "one that would take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you."

Feeling himself slip away to sleep he said, "I'm not interested," and slowly watched the room fade away.

3

He awoke quickly and remembered what he had discussed with Aeris' mom, Elmyra. While yawning and stretching out he whispered to himself, "Must've really needed the sleep . . . feels like I've been out for a few hours." He stood up slowly, trying not to make any noise that would inevitably wake up Aeris in the next room.

As he tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs he thought about what Aeris had said about the walk to Sector 7 - that it would be dangerous.

_It shouldn't be a problem._

4

After exiting the peace and serenity of the cottage and its shrubbery, bottle green surroundings, Cloud was soon on his way back to the donut-shaped area of the sector.

He turned back towards Aeris' home before he'd walked too far, and saw that the home no longer existed. In its place was the same stinking pile of garbage he had seen when he had arrived.

Standing there, mouth gaped open, he once again found his thoughts tossing around the word 'Ancient'.

_Hadn't that race died off long ago?_

That's at least what he had heard, although for five years now he'd known of someone else that had claimed that he was a descendent of the Ancients. He still remembered Sephiroth's voice, the words spilling from it not of the Common tongue.

_But I don't want to think about that,_ he thought, physically shaking the painful memory out of his mind.

He understood that one day he'd have to tell his story. And on a deeper level he may have even understood that he truly _needed_ to tell it.

"No," he said aloud as he began to walk again.

_I don't even understand the present at this point . . . so I definitely don't need to be thinking about the past . . ._

And there was more truth to that then he even understood.

He plodded on, doing his best to ignore the sights around him, and tried to be honest with himself.

_I know something's wrong,_ he thought. _Whether or not I admit it to Tifa is one thing, but I guess I should be admitting it to myself._

He looked down at his arms, the bruises barely a yellowish-red tone and the cuts over the hump in their healing process.

_Something happened to me . . . that's obvious. And I must have hurt my head somehow, which explains the memory problems._

He shook his head, and aimed a kick at a small pile of pebbles, sending them in every which way along the unhealthy soil.

_What memory problems?_ he thought. _My memory's fine, isn't it? Didn't I just have a dream about being back home five years ago? Didn't I remember the night at the well with Tifa, and getting so cold I had to swing my legs back and forth just to keep my confidence?_

"I'm fine," he said aloud as he maneuvered around a trio of teenagers sleeping in a huddled mass outside of a dilapidated shack.

_Yeah,_ he thought, agreeing wholeheartedly with his conclusion. _My memory's fine. It's just this recent event that's been bothering me._

It dawned on him just then that one thing would in fact be explained by him accepting that he had been in some sort of altercation – or at least some sort of trouble.

_My materia . . . I'd mentioned to Aeris about using materia because I'd been given some in SOLDIER. But I've never stopped to ask myself where the two orbs I'd been using are right now._

He reached into one of the many pockets in his pants and felt around, already knowing that there would be nothing there.

_I must have lost them during the struggle . . . if a struggle is what actually happened . . ._

He shook that thought off, knowing that it would do him no good to try and puzzle it all out right this moment.

_There's just too much information to process,_ he thought. _Although I can't say I'd mind having back those two orbs._

The power that came with both lightning and ice was quite the reliable ally to have during a tough confrontation.

Letting the vast majority of these thoughts settle into a section deep within his mind Cloud focused on getting back to the others. He ran down the road that he and Aeris had originally traveled on by way of the roofs. A tiny white and green sign, caked with dirt, pointed to the right at the road's fork and showed him the way to Sector 6.

It was at this point that Cloud felt a tad guilty.

Aeris had been nice, and had helped him out during a crucial time.

_Which is another thing I'll have to dwell upon eventually,_ he thought sourly, feeling a bad taste come into his mouth.

Aeris had saved his life, but on the other hand he didn't want to put her back in the path of danger, or to upset her mother.

He picked up his pace from a walk to a jog when he saw the entrance to Sector 6 up ahead.

Despite his efforts he soon realized that he hadn't been very sneaky after all.

5

_Oops . . ._

Aeris stood in the middle of the road, her hands on her hips, wearing a deceivingly exultant smile. Going from a jog to a complete stop he kicked up dirt with his boots.

"You're up bright and early," she said in a very chipper, yet sarcastic voice, her eyes staring into his.

He explained, "Aeris . . . how could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?" Even though it was her mother that had asked him to do this he didn't want to start pointing fingers at anyone.

As if not hearing what he had said, Aeris replied, "Are you done?" She grabbed his arm, gave him a nimble, dirty look, and ran through the entrance saying, "You have to go through Sector 6 to get to Tifa's bar . . . _I'll_ show _you_ the way."

6

For the next twenty minutes or so she brought him up and down heaps of garbage, through broken machines, and around dangerous holes in the ground that could assure a deadly fall. As he ran through the mayhem he realized that not even the slum people lived in this part of Sector 6, for it was too bad even for them.

It appeared that this particular section of Sector 6 served as a junkyard for the city above the plate. Totaled vehicles and other broken objects decorated the area, looking incredibly out of place sitting on the dirty slum floor.

The people above appeared to literally believe that the slums were a dump for their waste - big and small.

Eventually they ran through the opening of a long metal fence. The fence seemed to be an old entrance to the playground he could see ahead of them. The piles of junk didn't stop here though. The swings and teeter-totters were almost all pushed over and covered with trash. The one bench that wasn't yet crushed seated what appeared to be three tons of sordid waste. One old, gray slide in the middle of the playground remained intact.

Just beyond the playground was a wide junction in the road. To the right appeared to be a garbage-free section of Sector 6, to the left was the exit into Sector 7.

They slowed down and took in a mouthful of air. Aeris pointed to the left of the divide and said, "The gate to Sector 7 is over there."

Cloud smiled, almost wishing that he had not made it back yet. "Thanks. Um . . . I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be all right going home?"

Mockingly she said, "Oh no! Whatever will I do!? Ah . . . isn't that what you want me to say?"

Not quite tickled by her remark he said, "Fine then, I'll see that you get back safe."

"Isn't that a little out of the way?"

He sighed, knowing that she was right. "I guess so . . ." he admitted.

She put her hands behind her head and stretched. Looking around the area and feeling a bit exhausted she turned to him and said, "Hey, can we just sit down for a minute?" He nodded and watched her run off to the old slide. She said gleefully, "I can't believe it's still here!"

She quickly climbed up the ladder and sat up on top of the withered slide. She was smiling as if it was her first time ever on a slide. He looked up at her and said, "Havin' fun?"

She laughed and nodded her head vigorously. "Come up here with me."

"I dunno," he said, smiling.

"You don't know what?" she asked.

He shrugged. "There's not a whole lot of room up there . . . I'd almost be on top of you."

Aeris shook her head, her lips pursed. "Oh, Cloud, just shut up and get up here."

"Alright," he said, shrugging once more.

After he climbed up the withering ladder and sat down next to her Aeris turned to him, now not smiling, and asked, "What rank were you?"

He turned to face her, knowing now he had assumed correctly - they were mere inches apart from each other. He questioned, "Rank?"

"You know, in SOLDIER."

"Oh, I was . . ." For a split-second his mind seemed to pulse bright and painfully, as if it was filling the information in for him. He replied, "I was in First Class." He blinked a few times and ignored the brief instant of pain that was lingering inside of his head.

She sighed. "Just the same as him."

"The same as who?"

She looked away. "My first boyfriend."

Curiously he asked, "You were . . . serious?"

She turned back toward him and quickly answered, "No." She grinned, a touch of red entering her face, and said, "But I liked him for a while."

"I probably knew him, what was his name?"

"It doesn't really matter," she said, shaking her head.

Cloud was about to ask again when the gate to Sector 7 suddenly opened with a loud crunch of metal. The sound caught both of their attentions. As they looked over to see who was coming they saw an interesting sight.

7

A chocobo - a rather loud and oversized golden-yellow bird that is a distant cousin to the ostrich - was pulling a lavishly designed carriage behind it. The driver of the carriage as well as the carriage itself looked much too expensive to have anything to do with the slums.

The carriage slowly turned down the road that was opposite the way they had come from. As it completed its turn Cloud could now see a girl in the back of the carriage.

He slid down the slide and jumped up. "Hey!" He was sure he knew who the girl was. "Hey you back there!"

The girl, in a provocative blue dress made of silk, turned towards him, and then appeared to look at Aeris. The expression on the girl's face was a mix of happiness and confusion, perhaps even jealousy.

Cloud knew exactly who it was. "Tifa!?" he yelled, but by now she was already down the road and out of sight.

Aeris slid down the slide and joined him. "That girl in the cart was Tifa?" Very condescendingly she said, "Where was she going? She looked kind of odd . . ." She looked at Cloud and saw the look of worry painted on his face. "We should go see what she's doing."

Millions of scenarios played through his mind, none of which proved anything positive occurring in the case of Aeris meeting Tifa. He said, "Wait . . ." But before he could say anything else she started running off down the road after the carriage. He whimpered and kicked the ground. "I'll go alone, you go home," he whined, although he knew that she couldn't hear him by then. He shook his head and thought again about how the scene of him, Aeris, and Tifa all together would play out. He kicked the ground again.

_Damnit._

He then ran off to find Aeris and Tifa, wondering if Tifa would really believe that Aeris was only helping him find his way back to the Sector 7 hideout.

8

As Cloud ran down the road the calm silence from the old playground slowly became overtaken by the endless noise of business and people. A huge sign in neon lights lay ahead of him, where Aeris stood by. Stopping by her he looked on ahead to the small city of shops filled with people of the slums.

It certainly looked like the most populated area below the plate, people walking to and fro amongst the shops, restaurants, and other areas of interest.

There were businesses on the left and the right, as well as a few in the middle, which created two dirt paths that most of the slum people walked on as they progressed through their early morning errands.

"What the heck is this?" Cloud asked, raising his voice over the buzz of the crowd.

Aeris brushed up against him and whispered, "This is Wal-Market. It's only been here for a couple years now." She paused and leaned in closer to his ear. "It's scary in a lot of ways, especially for a girl. So we've gotta find Tifa fast."

Cloud, not fully understanding, nodded his head anyways, agreeing that they indeed did need to find Tifa.

_Although I'd rather it just be me that finds her,_ he thought bitterly.

Rushing towards them as they took their first few steps inside the pseudo-strip mall, a clean-shaven man, holding a flashing sign that was promoting some type of savings to a shop nearby, pointed in the direction of the inn that stood behind him. "Hey, you two," he said, winking exaggeratedly at Cloud, "why don't you get some _rest_? We have many unique and beautiful rooms! How 'bout it?"

They quickly walked past him only to be charged by another man in front of a restaurant. Yelling unnecessarily loud he said, "Please come in! All day we'll be giving out free pharmacy coupons!"

A man, holding his stomach and wincing, walked out from the tented restaurant and said, "I always get the special."

The man who had been greeting possible customers shooed away the sick man and quickly resumed his yelling. "Yes, that's right! Free pharmacy coupons! All you need to do is step through the door and order a meal!"

Behind the man Cloud could hear the continuous chant of 'Free sample' and 'Try some' from the various waitresses standing just beyond the bistros counter.

Turning away from the greeter and his deafening cries of 'FREE PHARMACY COUPONS!' they continued up through the path of colorful shops.

A child to their left was petting a stuffed cat, a man to their right was cooking fish over a garbage can, and a woman in front of them was applying a strange, greenish color of makeup to her eyes.

_Most of these people seem happy, yet I can't imagine why,_ Cloud thought, the concept of slum-luxury evading him.

As if she had read his mind, Aeris said, "It's always nice to see people in the slums that are happy, but I can't help thinking that they are only happy because they don't know anything in life that is better than this." She paused. "When Wal-Market first opened a lot of people were skeptic, and on the outside it seems like it's actually doing a service for the slum folk . . ."

"But . . ." Cloud said, anticipating some finality to her statement.

She continued, "But there's a lot of awful things happening behind closed doors, and all of the extra gil that's being made is being sent back above the plate."

Cloud did begin to notice that the Shinra symbol was decorated over everything in the area. He asked aloud, "I wonder . . . are the workers here being paid by the Shinra? It's sad that being people of the slums themselves that they would still try and make a profit off of their neighbors. Everyone here knows that the Shinra is responsible for how the slums turned out."

Aeris frowned and said, "I think people from above also come down here for cheap meals and stuff too, which is partially why a place like this can exist."

"Yeah, they'd come down from the city only to spit in the faces of the poor people who can't afford it." He stopped in his tracks and found a bout of laughter forming within him as he processed what he had just said.

_I'm beginning to sound like Barret . . ._

The more he considered the role of a place like Wal-Market the more it made sense out of what Aeris had said. Looking around as they walked he noticed that not everyone strolling around the shops appeared to be people that spent most of their lives in the filth of the slums. Some people were in suits, some had opulent jewelry on, and made sure that they wore it in such ways that everyone around them could see it. They stood out quite easily from the rest of the slum crowd.

The duo turned a corner, following a row of blinking lights. Cloud felt a tiny fit of nausea overcome him as he followed the lights with his eyes.

_Red-blue-orange-green-violet-yellow . . ._

_Red-blue-orange-green-violet-yellow . . ._

_Red-blue-orange-green-violet-yellow . . ._

He shook his head, turning away from the lights as they recycled once again back to red from yellow.

A man quickly stood up from a wooden crate, having seen them approaching from a distance, but to their surprise didn't appear to be selling anything. The man gazed at Aeris and then said to Cloud, "Hey guy! You sure got a good lookin' bitch there! Take her to the Don's place and you'll make some good gil." He gestured to his crotch. "When she's used up I'd like to have a shot at her, but I don't dare go after no newbies before the Don has his way with 'em . . ."

Aeris was ready to slap the man, but Cloud had already pushed the man onto the ground. With a grin that displayed a number of broken, yellow teeth the man crawled back a few feet and then walked away.

"Sorry 'bout that," Cloud said to her.

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay. I guess I should've been expecting it. Don Corneo is a big name around here. He controls Wal-Market."

As they moved forward through the market they heard two old men talking to each other, rummaging through an immense pile of trash. They seemed disgusted with it.

"All this trash," one said to the other. "Can't we do anything with it?"

"All of this belongs to the owner of the Weapons Shop. He keeps picking things up and saving them here. Says it ain't really trash . . ."

"I don't get it . . . no matter how you look at it . . . it's just trash."

As Cloud and Aeris walked by them the men tipped their hats. The gesture would have been construed as something nice had the two men been looking somewhere besides Aeris' chest.

Aeris walked a bit faster and said, "I haven't been here in a long time . . . it really repulses me."

Cloud knew that they must have been getting close to something that bothered Aeris because she kept slowing down and sighing.

They saw a man in a white tank-top pacing back and forth in front of the Weapons Shop. He was sweating profusely and appeared to be on the verge of having a heart attack, or at least a mental breakdown.

"Are you okay?" Aeris asked the stranger, conscious that the man could try and grope her if she got too close.

The man jumped in surprise, almost losing his balance and crashing to the ground. He nodded and shakily said, "I just can't make up my mind."

Aeris must've known what the man was talking about but Cloud didn't. He stepped forward and asked, "About what?"

The man grunted and said, "Ugh, don't make me say it. It's the shop down on the right."

After turning the next corner they encountered a dazzling glow of neon that seemed to pierce everything in the area. The glowing words shined 'Honey Bee Inn', the name of the strip club (among other activities) that stood before them.

A crowd of people stood before them as well. There was a man with long brown hair, two men in suits standing by the entrance, even a Shinra guard. None of these sights seemed to help in their quest to find Tifa, but then Cloud spotted someone else.

9

Cloud stepped behind Johnny, the red-haired man with a 'leaving' mission, who had spoken to him about Tifa just before the second bombing mission.

Still facing the slum-man with the long brown hair, Johnny said, "Man . . . should I go or not?" He swatted the air with his hand. "I get so mental at times like this, I'm hopeless." He turned around and smiled when he saw Cloud. "Hey! Are you trying to . . .?"

Cloud stepped back and said, "Don't bring me down to your level."

"You're Tifa's childhood friend!" Johnny paused. "What? My level? Um, jes leave me alone. I heard about Tifa coming here, and after a lot of deep thought I decided to go for it. Ya know . . . one last memory of Midgar." A small grin formed on his pimpled face.

If it wasn't for the fact that he now knew where Tifa was, Cloud would've punched Johnny out cold.

This didn't stop Cloud from feeling mentally punched himself.

_What the hell is Tifa doing in a place like this?_

Aeris grabbed his hand and walked him over to the entrance. The two men in the immaculate suits looked at them with unhidden confusion. One loudly whispered to the other, "This place is getting weirder and weirder. Now guys are bringin' their girlfriends with them . . ."

The other muffled a chuckle and looked at Cloud. "Welcome! Even unpopular dweebs like you may meet their destiny here!" He chortled again while looking at Aeris and then turned his attention back to Cloud. "Um . . . buddy . . . your girlfriend coming in too?"

Cloud glared at him, angry that anyone could mistake him for such a lowlife and said, "You know a girl named Tifa?"

Both of the men's eyes widened. "Hey, you're pretty fast. Ms. Lockhart's our newest girl." He put his hand on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud swiftly brushed it off. The man continued, "But unfortunately she's having an interview right now. Here at the Honey Bee Inn, it's customary for all the girls to be taken to Don Corneo's mansion." He paused to grin. "Think of it as a kind of . . . test run."

The other man suddenly spoke up. "Don Corneo is a great man. He's a famous dilettante in these parts. But now he wants to settle down and is in the market for a bride." He winked at Cloud.

Before Cloud could get anymore riled up, Aeris waved goodbye to the suited men and pointed him in the direction of Corneo's mansion.

10

Slowly, with gawking eyes all around them staring at Aeris, they made their way to the mansion, still being harassed by the soliciting market people. When they got there Cloud was amazed that a structure this large could have existed in the slums.

Painted a repulsive golden-yellow color, the two-story structure stretched from one end of the market path to the other. There appeared to be an absence of a backyard however, as the mansion stood on the very edge of Sector 6.

A bodyguard with a black shirt that read, 'Security', stood in front of the grand main door. Cloud walked up to him but before he could say anything the muscle-bulging bodyguard said, "This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wal-Market." He shoved Cloud backward and said, "Look, Don's not into guys so don't let me catch you around here again." Looking past Cloud the man saw Aeris. In a sweeter tone, yet staring like a wild animal, the man said, "You can come in though, you're one sexy bitch." The man made a disgusting gesture while still perversely staring at her, his eyes combing every inch of her body.

Aeris made a sickened face at the man and pulled Cloud aside. She whispered, "Hey, I know this may sound bad, but I should go take a look. I'll tell Tifa that you're here and that everything's okay."

"No, you can't!" he said, trying to muffle the volume of his voice.

"Why?"

"You do know what kind of place this is, don't you?"

She threw her arms up into the air. "Then what are we supposed to do? You want to go in with me?"

He rubbed his chin, considering his options. "Well, being a guy, that'll be pretty hard. Besides, if I bust in there it'll cause too much commotion." Aeris started giggling, apparently not about what he was currently saying. Ignoring her he went on. "But, I just can't let you go in alone." She kept giggling. "Oh, man . . . well, first we need to find out if Tifa is alright." Finally the giggling was more than he could take. "What's so funny, Aeris?"

She looked at him gleefully and said, "Why don't you dress up like a girl? It's the only way."

"What!?" The idea was madness. He would never do such a thing.

_How can she think I'd agree to do that?_

Aeris walked provocatively to the doorman, now smiling at him, and very sensually said, "Hey, buddy." She touched the man's chest with the tip of her finger. "Just wait, I've got a cute friend I want to bring as well. Then we'll both go in to see the Don."

The man blushed and nodded simultaneously while also making a sick kind of grunting sound. Aeris walked away trying not to vomit and took Cloud by his arm.

He waited until they were far away from the doorman and yelled, "Aeris! I can't . . ."

"You _are_ worried about Tifa, aren't you?" He nodded reluctantly, feeling queasy at the idea of putting on girl's clothing. Aeris continued, "Well, if you are truly worried – and it sounds like you should be – then you'll need to disguise yourself."

"But as a girl?" he pouted, barely audible.

Aeris stifled a giggle. "Yes," she said. "As a girl . . . now come on, let's hurry and get you a nice dress!"

Cloud at first felt light-headed at the thought, but then Aeris' revamped giggling forced the anger he was feeling to take over.

11

They ran until they found the Clothing Shop. Cloud, embarrassed enough to even be in a place like this, walked around avoiding eye contact. Aeris walked up to the woman at the counter and said, "Excuse me, I'd like to get a dress."

The woman frowned. "Um, it might take a little time. Will that be all right?"

"What's the problem?"

"Well, my father, the owner, has been in a slump lately. You see, he makes all of the dresses."

"And now he won't?"

The woman turned away and said, "I don't know what he will or won't do these days. He's probably plastered at the bar again . . ."

Aeris turned to Cloud, who had begun to whistle, and then back to the lady. "So you're saying we can't get a dress unless we do something about your father?"

The woman, with a little glimmer of hope in her eyes, said, "Yes, I'm sorry. He's caused so much trouble. But really . . . you'd help me bring him back?"

"Well, if we don't do something, we don't get a dress, right?"

The woman joyously said, "Thank you! Please help my crazy ol' dad. I just don't know what to do anymore."

Aeris put her hand on the woman's and said, "Alright! We'll do something." She turned to Cloud and said, "Let's go." Before she could even finish her sentence Cloud darted outside, relieved that he was out of the horrible, girly shop. He couldn't believe how much he was going to be doing to help Tifa.

_She's going to owe me big time if this actually works . . ._

They ran back up in the direction of the mansion and entered the bar on their left. Other than a man in a bright, orange shirt standing outside of the occupied bathroom doing the 'holding your bladder' dance, the place was pretty much dead. They both saw an old man, face down, sitting on a bar stool with multiple empty bottles surrounding him.

Aeris tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse us. Are you the father of the girl at the Clothing Shop?"

He sat up and looked at her. Woozily he said, "I own the Clothes Shop . . . but I ain't your father."

"I didn't say that . . ."

Cloud stepped forward, nearly startling the man. "Make me some clothes."

The man took a breath and then looked up at him. "I don't make men's clothes. And I don't feel like makin' anything right now!" He took a sip from a sixth or seventh bottle.

Aeris looked at Cloud and smiled. "Hey, you wait over there for a second. I'll try and talk to him."

Cloud walked over towards the man in orange doing the dance and sat down on an empty barstool.

Aeris continued to the old man, "You know, mister. He's always said that just once he'd like to dress up as a girl. That's why I wanted a cute dress for him."

The man dropped the bottle, forcing a 'clunk' sound to echo around the room, and said, "What!? A tough lookin' guy like that?"

She could tell he seemed interested. "So, how 'bout it? Will you make him one?"

". . . Might be interesting. I was getting a little bored just makin' regular clothes."

"Then . . . you'll do it for us?"

He stood up from the stool and said, "Yeah, sure. Why the hell not? But all I have is purple material now, so that'll have to do." He wobbled over to the exit and left.

12

Having about a half hour to wait Cloud decided that they should stock up on some items, so they hit up all the local shops.

Regretting the fact that he had gotten himself into this he moped around the entire time they were shopping. Aeris on the other hand appeared to be having the time of her life and couldn't seem to stop grinning.

"You'll be fine," she said for what seemed like the tenth time. "You'll make a great girl." She laughed.

"Shut up," he moaned. This was also a phrase he was using more than ever recently.

When the time came they walked back to the Clothing Shop. The father and daughter duo stood behind the counter and greeted them. The daughter, with renewed happiness because of her father's return, said, "You're here! It's ready. Go try it on."

Cloud dreaded every second that he stood inside the horrid shop. He almost threw up, which Aeris found amusing, when the woman handed him a lovely silk dress. It seemed to be shimmering purple death.

_What the hell am I doing?_

He stepped into the dressing room and changed.

Well . . . _tried_ to change.

Out loud he squeaked, "How do you put this damn thing on?" Everyone in the store laughed. Aeris pulled aside the curtain to peek a little, trying to help him, when he yelled, "Whoa! What are you doing?" He held the dress in front of his mostly-naked form until she pulled her head away from the curtain.

Somehow he managed to get the dress on - deciding that it was best to just roll up his pants and sleeves and wear the dress over his old SOLDIER uniform - and stepped out into the store, wearing the glass high heels that had been left in the dressing room for him. Holding back a laugh Aeris said, "It's still not right. We need a wig or you're not gonna fool anyone."

The old man stepped forward with a blonde wig. Surprised that he had one, Aeris almost couldn't hold back the laughter as she placed it on Cloud's head.

After winking at Cloud the old man said, "I thought you might've wanted one, so I talked to my friend about getting one for ya." He looked at Cloud and smiled. "Do you know where the fitness gym is? There's a lot of people there . . . like you. They gave me a wig before I even had to ask twice."

Cloud gave the man as serious a look as he could while wearing a dress and said, "'Like you'? Aeris, what did you tell him?"

She finally laughed out loud. "Does it matter? Anyhow, we got you a pretty dress!"

The old man looked at his daughter happily and said, "Not bad at all. This may be a new business for me."

The daughter looked at Aeris and said, "Thanks for showing us something new. My father's got his motivation back now. So the dress is on the house."

Aeris thanked them and walked out of the shop with a currently-pouting Cloud. She stopped, shaking her head, and said to him, "Walk more nicely, Ms. Cloud. Like this."

And as much as he wanted to rip off the violet dress and shove it down her giggling throat he tried to walk nicer, for Tifa's sake.

A reoccurring thought came to the surface of his mind once again.

_What the hell am I doing?_

Slowly they made their way back towards Corneo's mansion, Aeris leaving a trail of giggles in their wake.


	17. 1-17 Up to Something

17. Up to Something

1

Walking back from the border of Sector 7 Barret Wallace stopped to pick up one of Marlene's toys that was sitting on the lifeless dirt in front of the bar. He at first reached down with his right arm – something he'd done often in the four years since he'd had the gun grafted into his limb – and then quickly snatched up the toy with his left hand.

He looked around the festering area and felt a speckle of hope form in the knowledge that Marlene could still have fun and be a child here amongst the sadness of the slums. He'd spent many hours thinking about Marlene and her future, and many more hours thinking over his responsibilities to her.

She loved him, and he was her 'Papa', that he knew. But there was always the risk of something happening to her when he and the others were out fighting the Planet-killin' Shinra.

He casually walked up the steps of the bar, staring down at the ragged doll in his large, brown hand. He noticed that the creak in the second to last board was becoming more pronounced.

_I'll have to get one of the others to fix it up,_ he admitted to himself, knowing that even such a simple task would be impossible to complete without both of his hands.

2

Barret set the doll down on the counter of the bar and took a quick swig from one of the whiskey bottles standing in front of him.

He shamed himself for grabbing the bottle so early in the afternoon, but things had been rough lately.

_Lately?_ he thought. _Ha! Things have been rough for a while now, buddy. You better believe it._

Besides the horrors that had forced him out of his hometown, Corel, four years ago, the events of the past few days had been plenty painful, causing a different yet equally agonizing struggle within his tired mind.

The first bombing had been a success – if you could lie to yourself and say that killing innocent citizens was a success.

The second bombing had been just as triumphant – if you could triumph over the fact that the man who had helped AVALANCHE actually succeed with the two bombing missions had fallen to his death at the same time as the Mako reactor's explosion.

And then there had been the black-clad spy, and all of the Don Corneo nonsense which had spilled out of his mouth before he had escaped.

_Hopefully Tifa can get to the bottom of this,_ he thought, holding himself back from taking another swig.

He turned his head slightly, trying to work out a knotted muscle in his thick neck, and saw Marlene's toy still lying on the counter.

_The Shinra are trying to find this hideout . . ._

He sighed and grabbed the bottle despite himself, Marlene set firmly in his pounding head.

3

He didn't know how long he was sitting at the bar by himself before the others came rushing into the 7th Heaven in an audible frenzy.

Barret spun around on the barstool fast and bounced to his feet, aiming his gunarm in their direction.

"Whoa!" Biggs yelled, his plump hands reaching for the sky.

Barret lowered his armed appendage. "Damnit . . . don't be runnin' in here like that! You be liable to get yourself shot!"

Wedge stepped forward, shaking his head adamantly. "Listen, Barret, this is an emergency."

Before the leader could respond, Jessie said, "Well . . . at least we think it is."

"Something's going on," Biggs added.

Barret stomped his large foot. "Will one of you just tell me what all of this goddamn talk is about!? What's the problem?"

"It's the Shinra," Wedge said.

Barret was already running through the trio and making his way outside. Marlene had gone over to Johnny's parents' house a few hours ago. If the Shinra were around he needed to protect his little girl.

He bounded off of the porch, skipping the splintering steps, and looked around the area.

The dirt paths of the slums were empty.

Behind him Jessie said, "Not here, Barret . . ."

Barret turned to face the group, his arms trembling. "Well why the hell didn't you say that in the first place!?" he hollered.

"It's . . ." Wedge began, and then paused. He took a quick look at the others and then back at Barret. "Barret . . . are you okay?"

Waving his hand, Barret answered, "Yeah, I'm fine . . ." He shuffled his feet slightly. "Sorry," he spat quickly. "Now what's the goddamn problem? What's all the fuss about?"

"The Shinra," Biggs began.

"Yeah, I got that part already if you can believe it," Barret cut in, a brief smile on his face.

"They're on the pillar," Biggs finished. "They're on the support structure!"

"Here?"

"Yes," Jessie answered. "Right here in Sector 7!"

Barret felt his own desire to immediately run to the pillar and kill any of the Shinra that got in his way, but knew that this all had to be thought out.

"Do you think it has anything to do with us?" he asked. "Anything to do with AVALANCHE?"

Shrugging, Wedge said, "I dunno, Barret. Right now we're not sure about anything."

"But after the ordeal with the spy," Jessie said, "we thought it might be a good idea to stay on our toes."

"And maybe see what they're up to," Biggs added.

Barret smiled at the trio, glad that he had such devoted people to work with. He gave them a hard time every so often, but he loved them – he knew it and they knew it.

"Good work," he said, and then lifted his gunarm until it was level with his sadistically grinning face. "But you know my policy when it comes to Shinra-related activities, right?"

Wedge nodded, his mouth forming into a smile as well. "Right . . . shoot first, ask questions later."

"And then shoot again," Biggs said.

Barret nodded. "Good . . . we still on the same page. Now let's move out!"


	18. 1-18 Don Corneo

18. Don Corneo

1

As Cloud and Aeris made their way back up the swarming paths of Wal-Market towards Corneo's mansion they ran into the same man that had made the first of many rude comments concerning Aeris' attractiveness.

With Cloud now sporting a dress and a wig however, the scenario played out a bit differently this time around.

The man looked at them both and said, "Hello, ladies!" He winked at them and went on his way, spraying the air with grunts. Cloud glared at Aeris, because once again, she couldn't stop giggling.

_I really could,_ he thought. _I really could strangle her . . ._

They reached the bodyguard standing by the mansion's front door and walked straight up to him, Cloud suddenly feeling that even though the disguise had worked so far that the brainless security guard would be the first to see him for who he was.

Cloud took a breath and kept his mouth shut but Aeris immediately smiled and said, "Hey there, mister."

Barely containing himself, the man looked from Aeris to Cloud and then back to Aeris. He yelled, "Damn, your friend's hot, too! Come in, bitches, come in!" He opened the grand door and shouted, "Two ladies coming through! Hot shit indeed!"

A suited man that looked identical to the two men that had been standing in front of the Honey Bee Inn rushed them both as they entered. "Why hello, ladies. I'll go and let the Don know that you two beautiful creatures are here." He smiled, his teeth reminding Cloud of serrated carving knives. The man turned his head as he walked away. "Don't go wandering around . . . wait right here."

The man left them standing in the middle of the cheesy, retro golden room. Furniture and sculptures – most were of nude, voluminous women - filled the lustrous pimp palace.

"Are you kidding?" Aeris said, realizing that she couldn't find anything in sight that wasn't painted gold.

Cloud nodded. "If this is how you end up when you make it rich . . . I'd rather stay poor."

"You and me both," Aeris confirmed. She then glanced around the mansion, resisting the urge to vomit, and said, "Now's our chance. Let's find Tifa before 'The Don' finds us."

"Right," Cloud agreed. "And so I can get out of this awful dress."

Aeris smiled, as if she knew another bout of giggles was building up in her stomach. "Oh, Cloud . . . it's a beautiful dress. It's just perfect for your eyes."

She did start giggling then, and Cloud was again shaking his head. As he watched her walk in the opposite direction he murmured, "The only thing this dress goes perfect with is the garbage on the other side of this sector . . ."

2

They ran all around the first floor, checking the various gold-plated doors. The doors were either locked or contained nothing worth seeing.

Specifically – they did not contain a dolled up version of the girl Cloud remembered growing up with in Nibelheim.

_Tifa, where are you?_

"The second floor?" Aeris asked.

"Sure."

Trying to stay quiet even though they were confident it wouldn't matter if they were caught exploring, the trip upstairs proved worthwhile on the third door the pair tried.

"Interesting . . ." Cloud said.

"If that's the word you would use," Aeris said, giving him a peculiar look.

The sight beyond the farthest door to the left side of the mansion was interesting because a long set of stone-carved stairs ran down a good hundred feet into a cryptic and shadowy dungeon.

"Seems like it would be right up this Corneo guy's alley," Cloud said as he took his first step onto the stairway.

As he walked down, slowly in his high heels, Cloud spotted Tifa standing on the opposite side of the room. Aeris quickly ran ahead and walked up to her, leaving Cloud embarressed and standing on the stairs.

"Tifa?" Aeris inquired, although knowing it was her. Tifa, still in her dress as well, looked up at her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aeris Gainsborough. Cloud's told me a lot about you."

Tifa looked at her, confused. "I'm Tifa Lockhart," she said slowly, and then, "Wait, who are you?" She then remembered when she had seen Aeris. "Hey, you're the one that was with Cloud on the playground."

"Right, with Cloud."

"Oh . . ."

"Don't worry. We just met. It's nothing."

Tifa questioned, "What do you mean, 'don't worry' . . . about what?" She looked at Aeris for a second and then said, "No, don't misunderstand. Cloud and I grew up together . . . nothing more."

Aeris laughed and looked back at Cloud. "Poor Cloud, having to stand here and listen to both of us call him nothing." She laughed. "Right, Cloud?"

Tifa gasped. "Cloud?" She ran over and thoroughly looked him over. "It _is_ you! Cloud! Why are you dressed like that!? And what are you doing here!? Wait, forget that, what happened to you after the fall? Are you hurt?"

"Hey, give me a chance to explain," he said, the deepening red in his face contrasting gravely with the purple in his dress. "I'm dressed like this because there was no other way to get in here. But yeah, I'm all right. Aeris helped me out." His thoughts drifted back to the church for a second. He hadn't put any more effort into figuring out how he had survived the plummet from the reactor.

Rolling her eyes, Tifa said, "Oh, Aeris did. . ."

Cloud shook his head and focused back on the situation he was currently in, knowing that if he tried to say anything regarding himself and Aeris that he was guaranteed to have his head start hurting. "Tifa, now you explain. What are you doing in a place like this?"

Tifa looked at Aeris and then back to Cloud, signaling that she didn't want Aeris to hear. "Yeah, umm. . ."

Aeris, getting the hint, said, "Ahem! I'll just plug my ears." She walked to the other side of the dark room.

Tifa smiled at Cloud. "I'm glad you're okay." She hugged him, her eyes open and looking out towards Aeris as she walked away.

Cloud returned the hug and said, "Thanks. Now what happened?"

Tifa ran her fingers through her long hair. "I still can't believe you're all right. I can't wait until we can both go and see the others. Everyone was so sad . . ."

"Tifa . . ." Cloud said, reminding her that she still hadn't answered his initial question.

"Right, sorry," she said. "When we got back from the Number Five reactor . . . there was this weird man near the hideout. He was dressed all in black, but he looked just like all of the scrubs I've seen wandering around this mansion . . . not that we knew he had anything to do with this mansion at the time. We just grabbed him because he appeared to be spying on us. Barret squeezed some information out of him."

"A-ha," Cloud said, knowing where this was going. "That's where The Don's name popped up."

"Right, Don Corneo. Barret had the others find out what they could about Corneo, and we realized that the only way we were going to hear anything straight out of Corneo's mouth was if I got inside of his mansion and talked to him personally." She paused. "You see . . . it appears that this Corneo guy is a real dirt bag, and that he rarely talks to men other than the cronies he has working for him." She paused. "Ugh, what a sleazebag!"

"That's certainly the impression I've gotten so far," Cloud said, looking to a nearby wall where a few leather straps with meat hooks were hanging under a sign reading 'Don's Devices'.

Tifa sighed and looked around the chamber. "So I made it here, but now I'm in a bind. Corneo is looking for a bride." She made a sickened face. "What we didn't know as we devised the plan was that every day he apparently gets three girls, chooses one of them, and then . . . and, well . . ." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I have to be the girl tonight . . . I'll get him to talk."

Walking back to their side of the room Aeris said, "Sorry, but I kind of overheard." She stood next to both of them. "And . . . if we know the three girls, there's no problem, right?"

Tifa shrugged her shoulders, thinking this through. "I guess so, but . . ."

Cloud stepped forward and said, "No, Aeris! I can't have you get involved!"

She put her hands on her waist and snapped back at him, "Oh? So it's all right for Tifa to be in danger, but not me?"

In desperation Cloud responded, "No, I don't want Tifa in . . ."

Tifa walked to Aeris and interrupted him. "Is it all right?" she asked her. Aeris nodded enthusiastically.

They started walking up the stairs, leaving Cloud behind.

Aeris explained, "I grew up in the slums, I'm used to danger." She stopped and looked at Tifa. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes. Thanks, Aeris," Tifa said, giving Aeris her first smile. "And if you really did help Cloud . . . I need to thank you for that, too."

"It's no problem," Aeris began, when a voice shouted from up above them.

The suited man from upstairs yelled down the long staircase, "Hey! It's time, ladies. The Don is waiting!" As he turned around he said, "I told ya not to wander around. I tell ya . . . women nowadays."

Cloud met the two girls on the stairs. "I probably don't need to ask, but the other girl is me, right?"

Tifa laughed and looked at Aeris who was giggling, her hands partially covering her mouth. Putting her hand on his shoulder Tifa replied, "You're right, there was no need to ask." The two girls laughed as the three of them ascended the stairs, walked down the gold-shining hall, and then entered Corneo's room.

3

The Don's room was decorated the same as the rest of the mansion. Gold-plated walls and other various items were scattered around the room, shimmering with the wealth of a Shinra employee. Don Corneo sat behind a grand desk in the middle of the room. About five foot three and a revolting two hundred and seventy pounds, the rotund man was the picture-perfect definition of gluttony. He wore a ridiculous red and white crown along with a matching robe. On his fat face he wore a blonde moustache that covered the majority of his mouth.

A suited man stood next to him, his hands folded in front of him. When the trio of 'ladies' in front of him were close enough he yelled, "Alright, ladies! Line up in front of the Don!"

They lined up, Tifa and Aeris on the ends, Cloud in the middle. Corneo rolled over his desk and drooled over them. Checking them out one at a time from a few feet away he boisterously grabbed his crotch, groaning as he did so.

He walked closer to Aeris, only inches away now, and examined her. "Good, splendid!" he said, sniffing the air around her. He then moved to Cloud, but before he got too close Cloud moved his head. Don giggled. "Will it be this one?" He then walked over to Tifa and looked her over. "Or this one?" He stepped back a couple feet and looked at them all. He stared at Cloud, who again turned his head in the opposite direction.

Cloud couldn't imagine that this dirty old man would ever pick him. But when Corneo kept staring at him he somehow knew. He was sure that any second now Aeris would start to giggle.

Don jumped and yelled, "Woo-hoo! I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight," he pointed his fat finger at Cloud, "is this healthy-looking beauty in front of me!"

Cloud gagged, and sure enough . . . Aeris giggled.

4

The large man grabbed Cloud's hand and brought him back to his private bedroom. He then turned to the suited man and said, "You can have the other ones." Cloud slowed down, truly not wanting to be in the situation anymore. Don looked him in the eyes and said, "I love chickies who play hard to get. Yowza!"

As they entered his room Don quickly threw off his robe and leaped onto the bed.

The room was small, mostly covered with a pinkish color of fur, and contained many hearts and many odors, some less pleasant than others.

Cloud stood motionless, wondering how long he should – or could - carry on with the charade.

Don licked his lips in Cloud's direction and said, "We're finally alone." He unzipped his pants. "All right, pussycat. Come to daddy." Cloud stood there, holding back his urge to vomit. He didn't want to cause any commotion. He had to wait until the opportune moment.

Don suddenly pulled him onto the bed. "You're so cute, I'll never get tired of looking at you, sweetness." He winked at Cloud. "Do you like me, too?"

"Uhh . . . of course," Cloud said, straining not to rip the man's head off, straining to not pull his sword out from under the purple dress and cut the fat man into a dozen pieces.

Corneo rubbed his crotch again. "You sure know how to make me feel good. So how do you wanna do it?"

Closing his eyes Cloud said, "Uh, I don't care."

Don leaned towards him. "How 'bout a nice wet kiss to start things off my pretty little princess?"

It had gone too far. Commotion or not, he knew it was the end of the line when he saw those two moist lips sticking out beneath Corneo's massive moustache.

As Don got closer to his face Cloud hastily shoved him back onto the bed. He then jumped to the floor and ripped off the dress, revealing his real clothes . . . and the fact that he was not a pretty little princess.

After Cloud threw the blonde wig at him, Don screamed, "A man!? What the hell is this!? You tricked me! Someone get in here NOW!"

A voice came from outside of the room. "Unfortunately, no one'll be comin' to help." Tifa and Aeris then threw the bodyguard onto the plush-carpeted floor next to Corneo's heart-shaped bed and walked into the dimly-lit room, a smile on each of their faces.

5

Not sure what was happening Don said, "What? You're the ones from before! What the hell is going on?"

Tifa spit at the fat man and yelled, "Shut up! We're asking the questions now." She glared at him with anger and hatred. "What did your assistants find out?" She punched the pink-colored mattress. "Talk! If you don't tell us . . ."

Cloud put his foot up on the bed and whispered, ". . . I'll chop them off." He briefly glanced in the direction of Corneo's crotch.

Don jumped and screamed like a twelve year old girl. Holding his groin he pleaded, "No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

Tifa smiled at Cloud. Looking back at Corneo she said, "So talk."

"I made 'em find out where the man with the gunarm was. But that's just what I was ordered to do."

"By who?"

He whimpered, "No . . . if I told you that I'd be killed!"

Tifa shook her head. "Talk! If you don't tell us . . ."

Aeris, following Cloud's action from before, put her foot on the bed and said, ". . . I'll rip them off."

Jumping again, Don shrieked, "Waaaaah! It was Alrik Heidegger of Shinra!" He was sweating profusely. "Heidegger, the head of Public Safety Maintenance!"

Confused, Cloud repeated, "The head of Public Safety Maintenance?"

Tifa slammed her fist on the bed again and yelled, "Did you say the Shinra!? What are they up to!? Talk! If you don't tell us . . ." She placed her foot up on the bed to join the others and in a threatening voice whispered, ". . . I'll smash them." She placed her hands together and cracked her knuckles, each pop forcing a twitch in Corneo's beady and yellowed eyes.

Holding his crotch so tight that it almost appeared to be painful, Don yelled, "You're serious, aren't you!? Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" He was so frightened that his squeaky voice was cracking from time to time. "I'm not fooling around here either, you know! Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE. They want to infiltrate their hideout." His eyes widened. "And they're really gonna crush them . . . literally. They're going to break the support structure holding up the section of the plate above them."

They all stepped back in shock. Almost gasping for air at the thought of what he was saying, Tifa shrieked, "Break the support!?"

"You know what's going to happen?" Don asked, still shrieking. "When the pillar goes down a chunk of the plate will fall shortly after. All of the billions of tons on top will hit the Sector 7 slums." He wiped his face. "I'm just glad their hideout ain't here in Sector 6."

Tifa smacked him in anger. "They're going to wipe out the entire Sector 7 slums!?" She turned to Cloud who looked equally horrified. "Cloud, will you come with me to Sector 7?"

Without thinking about it he immediately answered, "Of course, we'll all go."

They started to make their way to the door when Don said, "Just a second!"

Cloud looked at him sternly and said, "Shut up!"

"No wait, it'll only take a second. How do you think scum like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"

"We don't have time for this."

Don quickly jumped off his bed and pulled a switch. The carpeted-floor promptly gave way under their feet.

As he watched them all fall out of sight Corneo yelled, "Wrong answer. You should have said, 'Because they're sure to win'."

Screaming as they plummeted, the trio saw the trap door close above them just as they hit the hard, wet ground below. Their screams were swiftly silenced.

The water was freezing and the fall - although not as drastic as say a plunge from a Mako reactor would be - was unexpected and knocked the wind out of Cloud.

After a minute or two he stood up, chilled to the bone from the ankle-deep water, and saw that they were in a murky and stale sewer.

When his eyes finally adjusted he saw Tifa and Aeris lying on the ground not too far away.

They weren't moving.


	19. 1-19 Shinra Plans

19. Shinra Plans

1

Alrik Heidegger, the head of Public Safety Maintenance, approached the Conference Room's desk on the 66th floor of the Shinra building.

The room was rarely used except for when 'unofficial' business was being discussed. As far back as anyone could remember the room had always contained a foul stench so it wasn't a popular place to be spending a large amount of time in.

The desk was long and could seat a dozen people. It sat in the middle of the room which had been painted white with maroon shades. One plant, that appeared to have died five years ago, sat in the back corner of the room, its dead leaves looking more like dust particles than anything else at this point.

Heidegger took a seat near the President, his chair whining as he sat down. Beneath his squinty eyes and his thick black beard he wore a pompous smile. The dedicated assistant to the mayhem that the President warranted also wore a few thick bandages over his fat knuckles. He'd apparently had some sort of altercation . . .

Standing next to the President was a man named Reeve Tuesti. With his slicked-back hair and goatee along with the blue suit he wore he could have easily been mistaken for a member of the Turks. Instead his role was heading the Urban Development Department.

Unlike Heidegger, who would do anything Shinra told him to do without thinking twice about it, Reeve sometimes felt that some of the things that the company did were not right. He sometimes voiced his moral opinions but in the end he was always shut down.

He had never liked Heidegger and always seemed to have to endure his childish ways of living. Every time that their paths crossed some form of bickering - more often than not started by Heidegger - would escalate into an all-out shouting war.

He had hoped that today Heidegger would just leave him alone, but he should have known better than to look for false hope from a man who allowed his temper to get the best of him more frequently than your average teenager.

Heidegger sneered at Reeve the moment he sat down. He knew how to get Reeve worked up. Seeing that look in Reeve's eyes he let out a boisterous, "Ha, ha, ha!" He smiled, showing too many of his yellow teeth.

"Would you please shut up?" Reeve said, angry with himself for responding to Heidegger's juvenile ploy to upset him.

Heidegger stopped laughing and picked up a pen that was sitting on the desk. "Listen, Reeve, if there's a problem, why don't you write a complaint like everyone else does, then take it and shove it up your ass. I'm sure that'd make you feel better."

Reeve smacked the pen out of his hand. "I wouldn't want to waste the paper . . . I hear you're eating _that_ now, as well as your usual dog shit you fat prick."

"At least I have the gil to eat! I'm sorry that you're on a lower pay-grade than me just because you're an asshole."

Reeve shouted, "I'm on a lower pay-grade because unlike you I don't have fat enough lips to kiss ass every second of the day!"

"Why don't you piss off and go back to playing with your dolls!?" Heidegger said, sneering.

"They're not dolls, you idiot . . . they're robots. You wouldn't understand. Anyways . . ."

"No one cares, Reeve!"

"Goddamnit! Shut your fat mouth!" Reeve's blood was now boiling.

Heidegger appeared to have noticed. "Make me . . ." The grin he displayed was a taunt without words.

Reeve took a step forward, his fists clenched and shouted, "I will you fat . . ."

President Shinra snapped his fingers. The room became dead silent in an instant. Ignoring all that he had just heard, he asked, "How are the preparations going?"

Holding his hands on his round belly Heidegger joyfully answered, "Ha, ha, ha! Smoothly, very smoothly! I assigned the Turks to this. We have a team already in place on the pillar."

"Good," Felix Shinra said. "And they were prepped as to what their duties were prior to the mission?"

Reeve was about to respond when Heidegger quickly answered, "Yes, sir!" He grinned, knowing that by now Reeve's blood might actually be boiling. The large man continued, "They were all tested usually a holographic model of the pillar, and the ones that were sent were the ones that completed their set tasks in the fastest time."

Shinra smiled. "Excellent." He could feel the anxiousness and excitement coursing through his old body. "I really can't express how eager I am to witness that piece of the plate drop . . . and the destruction that it will cause to Sector 7 and those worthless rebels."

Heidegger was grinning again. "It will be a once in a lifetime sight, sir."

Reeve stepped forward and said, "Kiss ass later, Heidegger."

"Reeve, you . . ." Heidegger began.

"Save it," Reeve interjected. "I get it . . . I'm a worthless person that will never live up to the standard of evil that you judge your peers by."

Heidegger was silent for a moment, and then shrugged and laughed. "Finally, Reeve . . . something we can both agree on!"

"Whatever," Reeve said, turning from one large man to the next. Even though he knew it was a lost cause he was still determined to show the President that what they were about to do was not right, no matter what they would accomplish by doing it. "President, sir," he said, "are we really going to do this, simply destroy a group with only a few members?"

He looked out of the windows, sixty six stories above the floor of the plate. He could see a lot of action occurring at the Sector 7 plate above the slums.

_How many will die when all of that falls?_

Glaring at Reeve, President Shinra asked, "What's the problem, Reeve? You want out?" He stood up from his desk and slowly walked to Reeve, adjusting his jacket as he did so.

Staring face to face with the head of Shinra, Inc., Reeve gathered his courage and softly said, "No . . ." He took a few steps back and continued, "But, as the head of the Urban Development Department, I have been involved in the building and running of Midgar. That's why . . ."

Heidegger interrupted him, "Reeve, you should flush those personal problems in the morning with the rest of your shit!"

Reeve ignored the outburst and continued, "The Mayor's against this anyway! That should be taken into account."

Shrugging and letting out a small chuckle Heidegger said, "Mayor? He just sits in his office all day feeding his face! You still call that a Mayor?" He faced the President and saluted. Raising his arm the dark green suit he was wearing appeared to be threads away from ripping at its seams. Putting his arm back down he said, "Now if you'll excuse me, sir!" He shouldered Reeve as he left the room, his booming laughter following him as he exited.

Reeve turned around and raised his middle finger at the laughing, fat man. When he turned back around to the President he said, "Don't you realize how many people are going to die because of this?" He then tried to speak in terms that would actually matter to Felix Shinra. "Don't you realize how expensive this disaster is going to be for Shinra, Inc.?"

Shinra shook his head. "Why should I give a damn about those worthless citizens, Reeve? They're vermin, plain and simple!"

"But, sir . . ."

"And as for the issue of gil . . . if we allow these filthy rebels to continue blowing up our Mako reactors along with who knows what else, we'll not only be losing gil but we'll still have the problem of AVALANCHE to deal with."

Reeve still tried. "But, sir, it's not the same . . ."

Shinra held his fist out in front of him. "We will destroy the Sector 7 pillar, dropping the plate to the slum floor, killing the rebels and whoever else in the process . . ." He paused, allowing a smile to grace his warming face. "We'll kill two birds with one stone and we won't worry about the consequences until after . . ."

Reeve shook his head, knowing it was hopeless. "Sir . . ."

"You're tired," Shinra spat. "Why don't you keep out of my sight until the operation is completed . . . I'm growing tired of meaningless banter."

With his head down Reeve left the room.

2

Scores of workers could be seen doing various tasks on the section of the pillar above the plate. Shinra knew that even more would be below, working just as meticulously.

He knew that they understood how important this was, and that after this task was completed that everything would get easier.

_After this we'll be able to bring the focus back onto our final goal . . . Neo-Midgar._

President Shinra felt an exhilaration inside of himself that he hadn't felt in a very long time. "We'll destroy Sector 7," he said, still staring out of the window, "and then we'll report that AVALANCHE was responsible. We will then send in the rescue team of Shinra, Inc." He laughed out loud, truly energized by the oncoming events. "Yes . . . this is perfect." He watched a couple of helicopters fly down towards Sector 7, and then sat back down at the Conference Room's elongated desk.

He couldn't stop grinning.


	20. 1-20 From Calm to Chaos

20. From Calm to Chaos

1

"That's them!" one of the guards shouted. "They're here! AVALANCHE is below the pillar!"

It hadn't taken very long for the Shinra workers and guards stationed on the pillar to discover that the citizens from the slums that had come asking questions were actually members of the rebel squad AVALANCHE.

It was the gunarm that had given them away.

"Kill them all!" one yelled.

"Kill and torture the dark one with the gun on his arm!" screamed another.

The Shinra workers and guards had known it was AVALANCHE because of the sight of the gunarm, and that was something that Barret would never forget for the rest of his life.

2

"Jessie, get down!" Barret hollered, waiting only an instant as she dropped to the ground before he opened fire on the masked guard behind her.

Behind him Biggs was avoiding two swords that were being swung with vicious aggression towards his stout form. He ducked and moved left, and then stepped back, pivoted, spun on his heels and tumbled to the ground, only barely avoiding the blades of steel.

Jessie was now on her feet, running fast towards Wedge who was fending off a handful of guards and one brave worker. Two of the guards grabbed for Wedge's arms while the worker, brandishing a hefty wrench, took forceful swings at his head.

"Hey!" Jessie screamed, distracting the guards just enough to give Wedge a chance to defend himself.

Using his advantage Wedge grabbed the guard to his left by the hand, bent his wrist back until there was an audible pop, and then ran a few paces ahead to meet Jessie.

As the guards regrouped and ran towards Jessie and Wedge Barret shouted, "I'm going up!" referring to the black staircase that ran up along the side of the pillar.

Hardly hearing his leader, Biggs continued to avoid the blades of the two guards, but let out a shriek of pain as he felt a heavy boot strike him in the center of his back. He stumbled forward, his feet dragging and unable to catch up with the top half of his body, and landed on the dirt in front of the sword-wielders.

"Biggs!" Wedge screamed over the gunfire that had erupted above him. More guards had swung down from the plate above and were trying their best to overpower Barret.

The large leader of AVALANCHE continued to fire at the invading guards but soon realized that the vast majority of them were wearing bullet-protective gear. As the guard nearest him laughed, realizing that Barret knew he was in trouble, Barret simply grabbed the guard by the throat and pitched him over the stair's railing. The bone-crunching landing was more than enough to cease the man's laughter.

Beside the fallen guard Biggs cried out as the attacker's above him sent their blades down and across his back, sending a trickle of warm blood down the two sides of his body.

Jessie and Wedge both witnessed the assault on their friend but couldn't do much about it. Guards were running at them from all directions, their numbers doubling by the minute.

Wedge felt a blow to the back of his head and dashed forward, grasping his ear as a cacophony of ringing erupted within his mind.

Jessie caught a fist that had been aiming for her midsection, twisting the arm until it forced the guard off of his feet. But as she made to strike at the fallen guard another masked man tackled her from behind, sending her sprawling to the ground.

The guards that were slicing Biggs' back apart began to laugh as they heard the whimpering noises coming from his trembling mouth. Taking a quick breath and trying his best to block out the tremendous pain in his back Biggs used both of his hands and grabbed at the ankles of the guards.

The two men both reacted at the same time, quickly bringing their blades down again, but Biggs was too strong, and pulled the men off of their feet.

"Stupid bitch!" a guard yelled across the way as he grabbed Jessie by her thick hair. He pulled until her head was level with his waist, and then spun her ninety degrees.

The worker with the wrench ran at her from a distance, swinging the tool at her face. The sound that followed was stomach-churning, but it was the impact that was the most severe. A rugged cut had opened under her nose and more than a few of her teeth had been broken or knocked loose by the blow.

Up above Barret struggled to throw the guards off of him. He had been pushed down a few of the steps and leaped on by five men before he could get to his feet.

Sweating and breathing harder than he had in a long time, Barret ignored the occasional hit he took across his face and tried to work his left arm loose.

Wedge had done his best to get to Jessie before she had been hit, but in his panic hadn't seen the guards running at him, their hands outstretched. One guard pushed Wedge hard enough to lift him off of his feet, while the other sent a fist into the rebel's limp form.

"Bring 'em together!" one of the guard's yelled from Jessie's direction.

The guard who had last hit Wedge grabbed him by the feet and pulled him roughly, allowing his face to drag across the dirt.

Knowing that two swords would be trying to greet his back again, Biggs ran as hard as he could towards the others, barreling into the man who was lifting Jessie for the second time. The guard dropped her and stumbled but didn't fall to the ground.

Barret felt a painful sting as another drop of sweat ran down his forehead and into his left eye. Cursing, he let out a tremendous bellow and yanked his left arm free.

As the guard that was holding the limb tried to react Barret grabbed the man's protective mask and ripped it off of his face. In a panic the guard tried to back away but Barret beat him to it, pulling his gunarm free and firing a dozen shots into the guard's face, the ammunition destroying pale flesh, chalk-white bone, and bloody gray brain matter.

When Wedge's burning face finally stopped moving, he rolled over to see the worker with the wrench standing over him. The man smiled and then slowly raised the wrench over his head.

Just as he made to swing the weapon down Wedge sat up and swung his fist as hard as he could at the man's shin.

Biggs appeared as the man shouted and dropped the wrench. Before he even knew what he was doing Biggs grabbed the wrench out of the air and swung it at the worker.

Instead of hitting the man's face the tool instead caught the man in the throat, puncturing a mammoth hole just below the chin and sending the worker's head back at a nauseating angle.

Not wasting time to watch the man go down Biggs spun on his heels, swinging the wrench wildly.

As the rest of the guards ran at Biggs Wedge rolled twice and then got to his feet before making his way to Jessie.

"Are you okay?" he asked, seeing her eyes open.

Her speech was tough to understand – and not only because her mouth was pooling with blood – but Wedge understood her when she said, "I'm fine . . ."

In seconds she was on her feet, rubbing her face, and then both of them went to help Biggs.

Still on the staircase Barret had managed to throw another guard to the slum floor below, yet he still had guards coming at him from all directions.

Even as he tried to take a quick breath a man bear-hugged him from behind, trying to give one of the others a chance to strike the large man.

Instead, Barret sent all of his weight backwards, crushing the man's midsection on the nearby railing of the black staircase. Before the man could recuperate he pulled off the protective plating from the man's chest and opened fire, turning his head as the man's crimson blood began to spray him in the face.

Barret turned and found four guards standing around him. One was just below him on the staircase while the other three were above him on the next platform.

"Who's next?" he said, egging them on.

The guard below him let out a scream and charged, only to find Barret's immense foot coming for his face. As the guard tried to stop himself he clumsily tripped on the next step, allowing Barret to punt him back down to the next level.

One swing, two swings, three swings . . . Biggs was becoming more confident with the wrench as he sent it harder and faster into the faces of the swarming guards. At this point the ground around him was covered with moaning guards, and Biggs felt no hesitation as he plodded on their injured and wavering bodies.

Pain once again spread out across his back as he felt a sword cutting deep into his spinal region. It hurt so much that he dropped the only weapon that the trio had.

Luckily Wedge and Jessie were sprinting to his rescue, and before the guards had a chance to plunge their swords into Biggs, the two rebels barreled into them.

Wedge let out a cry of pain as the guard he hit took a quick swing at him, the blade connecting harshly with his right hand. Without looking he knew that one of his fingers was gone, and that another was dangling on by a mere piece of throbbing skin.

The sword that had been swung in Jessie's direction had been avoided, but as the guard tried to lift the blade Jessie grabbed him by the head and sent her knee careening into his nose, crushing it flat into his bleeding face.

Beside her Biggs was wincing, but he knew enough to react when a downed guard tried to put his hands around his throat. Tumbling out of the guard's reach he allowed Jessie, one of the blades now in her hand, to tear into the guard.

She then proceeded to send the blade into every suit of blue around her, whether the body within had been moving or not.

As Wedge avoided the other blade, his injured hand screeching, he suddenly dropped to his knees and sent his left hand into the guard's groin. While this didn't force the man to drop his blade it caused the guard a second or two of sightless pain, which was enough time for Jessie to race over and slice across with her own blade, cleanly taking the man's head off.

"We have to help Barret," she said as the headless body in front of her toppled over.

The trio looked up and saw an uncountable amount of guards racing down the staircase in Barret's direction.

"This is madness . . ." Wedge said, looking from the pillar to his disfigured hand.

Jessie nodded. "Yeah . . . this is chaos." She paused only briefly before taking a large breath and yelling, "Let's move!"


	21. 1-21 Struggle

21. Struggle

1

While President Shinra was anxiously awaiting the future of Sector 7, Cloud found himself fearing for it. In the cold, damp sewers he started to wonder how much time they had, and if it was actually possible to stop something like the crushing of a sector from happening.

The more he considered it the less hopeful he was.

_But as long as there's a chance I'm going to try . . ._

The sewer was dark, save for a small jade-tinted light in the corner of the murky ceiling. The muddy water cast wispy shadows along the nearly lightless walls. Floating in the air was the tinny smell of rust, which was only worsened by the stench of the grunge that was plastered on everything in the surrounding area.

Cloud was thankful when he saw the girls start to move - thankful for their safety and thankful not to be alone any longer in the sewer.

Aeris opened her eyes. Giving her his hand, Cloud asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah," she said, taking his hand and standing up. "I think I'm okay."

He then walked over to Tifa and did the same. "Yeah, I'm alright," she replied, looking around the dark underground cesspit. "This is terrible!"

Aeris knew that Tifa wasn't referring to their current situation - she was referring to the apocalyptic fate of the Sector 7 slums. Aeris walked over to her. "Well, it hasn't happened yet . . . there's still time."

But time truly was an erratic thing they all would later think on.

At one moment you have all the time in the world and everything looks promising, while at the very next moment you find yourself in a situation that keeps getting worse and worse.

And worse.

2

A low grumble suddenly filled the sewer. Ferocious breathing brought shivers like the tiny legs of spiders down each of their necks.

A monster - and looking at the thing that had sped at them from out of the shadowed tunnel ahead there was nothing else to call it but a monster - crashed down and immediately charged them.

Cloud had seen inexplicable beasts like this one before, although the others had varied in shape and size. He knew from experience that the Shinra had a lot to do with these creatures and how they came to be. He also knew that now was not the time to be dwelling on the past.

_A story for another day . . . _he thought, and then shuddered as the monster let out another growl and lurched forward.

The beast stood at least seven feet tall, with a sickening yellow tint to its scaly skin. Small tufts of hair sat on various places of its body; its eyes burned with blatant wrath. The four legs that it stood on were muscular, and supported an even more muscular body.

The broken, gray teeth sticking out this way and that from its snarling mouth were what caught the trio's attention however.

Aeris gulped and felt her body tense up. She looked around at Cloud and then at Tifa. They both were hurt and not prepared to fight in this condition. With only seconds before an encounter with the beast she said a silent prayer, and with the power of her people - the power of the Ancients - she healed them.

Even as the four legged yellow mess of an animal charged him Cloud suddenly felt reenergized. Looking at Tifa he could tell that she felt the same. Aeris winked at him just before the creature attacked.

As he was thrown against the sewer wall he knew that Aeris had something to do with his fast healing and that now of all times he was beginning to solve the mystery of his survival from the lengthy plunge off of the reactor.

Tifa darted back and forth, avoiding the thing's gooey arms and legs as they tried to pummel her. When the opportune moment arrived she jumped high, letting out a yell, and kicked the monster in its distorted and pulsing face, causing it to shriek wildly.

With a quick shake of the head Cloud was back on his feet, his Buster sword in hand. He attacked the monster's flank, its attention still fixed on Tifa's fluid movements.

As he pierced the beast, his blade digging deep into a leg that was now dripping with dark green blood, Cloud found it astonishing how out of sorts his mind was considering that he was in a life-or-death confrontation.

Even as he went in for another chopping blow, and as the beast turned at him with renewed vengeance in its eyes, he found himself thinking about Aeris and her connection to the Ancients, about the fate of Sector 7, and about the very presence of the creature he was battling against this very moment.

The beast had most likely been sent by the Shinra-employed Don Corneo, which would mean that Shinra wasn't exactly following their own 'See a Monster, Kill a Monster' policy.

Something had happened five years ago – and Cloud knew what that something had been – and the citizens all over the Planet had suddenly found themselves sharing their towns and villages with creatures of all repugnant shapes and hideous sizes.

Shinra had organized a team to disperse the monsters but there had been too many.

_And apparently they weren't following their own advice some of the time anyways,_ he thought, as he watched Tifa get swept off her feet by one of the monster's limbs.

He screamed, causing the beast to look away from Tifa.

_Now's not the time to be thinking about what happened five years ago . . . there's other things to think about right now._

He gripped his sword tighter, and watched as the beast breathed in and out rapidly, its harsh breathing disturbing the thick air in the sewer.

The creature was certainly not expecting its potential prey to be so powerful, especially when Cloud jumped onto its chest and drove his sword through its belly. Avoiding the eruption of blood and acid from its wounded stomach Cloud jumped off the dying body and joined Aeris near the wall of the sewer.

Although he knew he wanted to question Aeris about how she had healed him, as well as ask her what the Shinra guard had truly meant in the church when he had called her an 'Ancient', Cloud holstered his sword and only glanced at her. He was content enough at the moment to simply be glad she had helped, and that they had all survived the attack.

Tifa ran up out of breath and yelled, "It's too late! Marlene, Barret, the people of the slums . . ."

Aeris looked her in the face. "Don't give up, never give up hope. It's not easy to destroy the pillar, right?"

Tifa's face reacted with a tiny glimmer of hope. "Yeah . . . you're right! We still have time."

"Then let's go!"

3

They ran down the sewer for what felt like hours looking for ladders.

Every time that they came to an intersection or a curve in their run they all immediately found themselves looking towards the ceiling for an exit.

But there were no ladders, and they truly needed to find one fast.

Five long minutes into the search they started to think that there was going to be no escape from the wretched sewers and that Sector 7 was going to be left to its fate. They wouldn't have even been able to retrace their path, having not paid any attention in their desperate search for an exit.

Cloud heard Tifa softly crying as they ran through the endless tunnel, hope shrinking down to a minuscule amount.

"It'll be all right," Cloud said, not slowing in his jog as he spoke.

He could tell that Tifa had looked at him briefly, but he continued looking ahead of him, his eyes searching insistently.

4

Finally, after almost ten insufferably long minutes, a ladder came into sight. It appeared to be the only thing in the entire sewer not covered with grime, the hazy light from the slums above dimly illuminating the small, circular section of the sewer.

Scurrying up as fast as they could the trio soon found themselves out of the sewer, and into the Train Graveyard.

The graveyard had originally been part of the nearby train station, but just as they had done with large sections of Sector 6 the Shinra had used the other half of the Sector 7 train station as a disposal for trains that were out of commission. The result turned the dumping area into a labyrinth of fractured trains and broken steel.

Cloud remembered that the Train Graveyard had been close to the Sector 7 pillar, and thought about the luck they'd had to end up here of all places. He also found it hard to believe that he had just gone to look at the massive column two days ago after his first mission with AVALANCHE.

He looked around and sighed. The pillar may have been close but with the vast wasteland of broken trains and rubble ahead of him, he didn't know whether to rejoice or to give up.

_We're close, but how are we going to get through this maze of trains?_

In one part of his mind he was still focusing on the things Aeris had done at the church and back in the sewer.

_Too many things,_ he told himself. _Focus! Focus on the present!_

He glanced at Aeris, but all he managed to say was, "Aeris, I got you mixed up in all of this . . ."

He was scared for her, he was certain of that. If the Shinra were really after her he would be taking her right to them, for they would without a doubt be at the pillar this evening.

"Aeris . . ." he said to her, unable to find the right words.

She gave him a cold stare, her eyes thinned. "Don't tell me to go home, Cloud. We're all in this together."

Cloud sighed. He didn't want anything to happen to her. He looked at Tifa. He didn't want anything to happen to either of them, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

Tifa looked around the muddle of metal. "I've been here before, not in a long time, but I have been here before." She looked crazily around at the mess of trains. "There is a path somewhere in the debris that will get us back to the Sector 7 train station. From there we can run to the support structure. We can make it to the reactor tower."

5

Following Tifa as she weaved in and out of the cars Cloud could see how scared she really was. So many innocent lives were in danger and she probably knew every single one of them. He was positive that five faces had been glued to her every thought, probing her to get to the pillar as fast as she possibly could.

_Barret, Wedge, Biggs, Jessie, and Marlene._

However many other faces were stuck securely in Tifa's mind as they ran Cloud didn't know for sure, but he imagined that there were quite a few, she'd been in the slums for quite a while as far he knew.

At a point in their run it appeared as though they had reached a dead end. Tifa's frustration became apparent as her entire body began to tremble.

Cloud hated seeing her so upset, he had never liked seeing her in pain.

He looked around the area of wreckage and quickly realized something.

We're close!

Climbing up the side of a broken train he could see some of the lampposts that lit the station ahead. He jumped back down and said, "Hey! The station is just on the other side of this train!" He couldn't help but smile seeing Tifa's face lighten up like a fresh summer sun, revealing a vivid radiance in her dark, brown eyes.

Aeris put her hands on her knees, audibly panting. Out of breath she weakly said, "I can't climb that." She looked around the area for other options, only to find that there weren't any. "Just leave me and go!" she demanded.

"No!" Cloud said, fearing that the moment he let Aeris out of his sight that the Shinra would grab her.

Tifa pranced around, anxious to get to the other side.

Cloud looked at the train in front of them again.

_The door. _

He stepped a few feet back, and then charged the door. Its rusted hinges gave no resistance. Once through the door he grabbed his sword from its holder across his back. With the sword's handle he smashed through the encrusted window on the other side of the locomotive and cleared the shattered glass away.

Without wasting any time Tifa and Aeris quickly climbed into the train and crawled through the window, mindful of the splintered glass along the edges. Aeris gave Cloud a small smile as she passed.

Out of breath and seconds away from giving in to their excessive fatigue the trio sprinted on.

6

They passed the train station, sprinted down the dirt path towards the fork, and then finally took the right at the fork in the road, heading straight for the support structure.

Gunfire was abundant in the air and from the foot of the pillar they could see Shinra soldiers spread out along the staircase that lined the tower.

They could also see a fair number of dead and bloody soldiers in the area around the base of the pillar.

Tifa yelled, "We made it! The pillar's standing!" A guard standing on the bottom step of the staircase, recognizing the newcomers as members of AVALANCHE, dashed towards her, but in an emotional time like this should not have messed with Tifa. She grabbed him by his head and screamed, slamming her knee into the guard's face, easily loosening his teeth. Like beads of ivory the chunks of enamel flew into the air as the guard hit the ground, out cold.

"Wait!" Cloud cried, pointing up at the platform on the pillar. "You hear that above us?"

Aeris responded, "Gunfire?" Seven hundred feet above them they could barely see Barret, only a tiny spec from that distance, violently fighting soldiers. All along the stairs up to the platform the rest of the AVALANCHE team were fighting as well.

They recognized all of the unmoving blue shapes on the stairs as the lifeless bodies of Shinra guards, their uniforms streaked with blood.

All they heard for the first tense minute as they dealt with a few more guards that had spotted them was the nonstop firing from Barret's gunarm as it pounded the area with noise. Then suddenly they heard a different noise.

A scream.

Growing larger as he fell closer and closer to the ground Biggs screamed until the inevitable impact occurred. Crying out with horror, Tifa watched her friend fall from roughly halfway up the staircase that led to the platform. When he landed, thirty or so feet away, they all ran to him.

Tifa stood over him, silent. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. His body was undeniably crushed from the outside in, his legs twisted in ways that signified that his bones had been pulverized.

It seemed hardly possible when his eyes squinted up. Cloud almost shrieked when he saw this and loudly yelled, "Biggs!"

Barely moving his lips the fallen rebel responded, "Cloud . . . you remembered . . . my name." He closed his eyes, probably the only body function he could still control. "Barret's up top . . . help him. Tell him I'm sorry I wasn't any help . . ." His mouth stopped moving and they all knew that he had passed away, knowing full-well how astonishing it had been for Biggs to have said anything at all in the condition his body was in.

7

Tifa grew angry but she held back her tears for Biggs' sake. She had hated the Shinra before, but she hated them even more now.

Cloud paused for a second, and then stood up and said, "I'm going up!" He looked at Tifa. Her devastated face only showed a miniscule amount of the pain she truly felt.

She walked to Aeris, clenching her fists, and said as calmly as she could, "Aeris, do me a favor. I have a bar called the Seventh Heaven in this neighborhood." She wiped her eyes. "There's a little girl named Marlene a few houses down . . ."

Aeris nodded. She felt their pain - she was raised in the slums and knew many of the people just as well as Tifa knew them. Not wanting to waste time she interrupted Tifa and said, "Don't worry, I'll put her somewhere safe. You can trust me . . ." Without another word she ran off.

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other, silently preparing themselves for the ordeal ahead, and then started their long run up the stairs.

8

They ran straight up and into the endless screams of dying soldiers and the nonstop patter of gunfire. Encountering a guard every few flights they soon became unfathomably tired.

About two hundred feet above the ground they saw Wedge sitting on the stairs, his face an unhealthy chalk-white tone. His left leg from the knee down had been shot off, leaving only a few strings of splintered flesh. His face was cut up so badly that there seemed to be an area to the left of his nose that was completely void of skin. He barely had the energy to raise his wounded head when he heard them call his name.

He spoke softly to them, blood slowly dripping from the corner of his shaking mouth. "Cloud . . . you don't care . . . what happens to the Planet?"

Cloud knew that the dying man in front of him must have been thinking random thoughts, his brain a shattered mess in his last few moments before death. Cloud propped him up and said, "You'll be okay, we can get through this." Tifa was yet again speechless seeing her beloved friend in such agony.

"Thanks, Cloud," Wedge said, perhaps understanding that Cloud was only trying to help. A small drop of blood ran down from the corner of his eye like a crimson-colored tear. ". . . Don't worry about me. Barret's fighting up there with Jessie and Biggs. Go help them."

Cloud didn't dare tell him about Biggs' death. He grabbed Tifa's hand, nodded at Wedge, and then continued up the stairs.

9

For the next couple hundred feet the gunfire and screaming had lessened. The amount of soldiers fighting them had also reduced in quantity.

Twice Tifa stopped, either because she physically couldn't go on, or emotionally, but Cloud knew that he couldn't leave her on the stairs. He slowly helped her up only to find something that would hurt her emotionally even more.

Jessie, squirming uncontrollably, was impaled on the post of one of the railings along the side of the staircase. Cloud couldn't hold back his tears seeing such a vicious and horrifying sight. Tifa threw up the contents of her stomach and fell forward onto the steps. Jessie's face was pale and her eyes glared a lifeless dull gray back at Cloud.

A puddle of her scarlet blood lay beneath her on the stairs. She looked at Cloud with a tragic face. "Cloud . . . I'm glad . . . I could talk with you one last time." The nonstop trembling of her skewered body caused her voice to shake.

Looking back and forth between her eyes and her gaping wound Cloud choked out, "Jessie . . . don't say 'last' . . ." He wiped his face and held back his urge to scream of the injustice of the Shinra.

Tears free-flowed down her pale face, mixing with the blood that was pouring down from a deep cut on her forehead. "Cloud, that's all right," she said weakly. "Because of our actions, many . . . many people have died. This probably . . . is our punishment." She reached out to touch his hand. By the time Cloud lifted his, life had departed from Jessie. Cloud grabbed the hand anyways and shouted. He screamed until nothing came out anymore.

Cloud and Tifa were both on the stairs, crying and screaming violently. The air was still riddled with the occasional blast of gunfire. Blood poured off of the staircase like water from a steep cliff.

Somewhere above, somewhere that was not here, people were living away their lives.

_But not here._

Death had placed its comma in Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, punctuating their lives for the rest of time.

Only fifty feet or so below the platform that Barret currently defended, Cloud got to his feet and slowly picked up Tifa. He gave her a quick, determined hug, and then forced her up the stairs behind him.

10

A guard greeted Cloud when he finally reached the top. With the anger and hatred that he felt for all of the Shinra and with the anger he felt for anyone that would do such atrocious thing's to innocent citizens, he pulled out his sword and drove it through the masked man. In a frenzy he slashed through the dead body a few more times, sending quarts of warm blood into the clammy air. Soaked with other men's blood he raced to Barret who was sitting on the ground breathing hard.

Tifa, still silent, joined them as Cloud pulled Barret to his feet.

There were only two guards left and when Cloud had made sure that Barret was all right he took care of the soldiers, slashing through their bodies before they even had a chance to react.

"What about the others?" Barret asked, breathing heavily.

Cloud shook his head. "Not now . . ."

Behind them a helicopter hovered down to the edge of the platform. Tifa looked at them both and said, "Here they come!"

Reno, the red-haired Turk that Cloud had seen at the church in the slums, jumped from the helicopter and raced along the platform to the mechanism on the side of the pillar. Pressing a few buttons he watched as the trio ran towards him. He looked over and yelled, "You're too late! Once I push this button . . ." He laughed and pushed it. A red light flashed, an alarm activated. "That's all, folks! Mission accomplished." He then pulled out a metal rod, as if hoping they were going to try and fight him.

Tifa desperately yelled, "No! We have to disarm it."

Sneering at her Reno said, "You won't even have the chance." He clicked a switch on the rod, proving it to be some type of electrical device.

Reno ran at Tifa and swung at her, she tried to block it but the shock it gave her threw her back onto the ground.

Barret was out of ammo but still went towards Reno with all of the strength that he had left. He dodged the rod and smacked Reno across the face with his gunarm. The Turk quickly countered, sending the rod into Barret's ribs.

Cloud ran with his sword and slashed away at the Turk. Reno blocked the sword with his weapon, sending the sword out of Cloud's hands. Still furious, Cloud tackled him.

While falling backwards Reno took out a knife and cut Cloud across the leg, the knife scraping wide across the appendage.

Screaming, Cloud rolled off of him and out of the way. From where he was laying he could see Tifa unconscious on the ground. It reminded him of his untimely flashback in the No. 5 reactor.

_This time I'm not going to lay here helpless,_ he thought, picturing Tifa crying over her father's dead body.

Next to him he saw Barret getting kicked by the Turk. The large man tumbled backward and almost fell on top of Cloud, who had crawled over and then stood guard over Tifa.

"Barret," Cloud said. "Stay with Tifa!"

Reno smiled when he saw Cloud charging forward, still without a weapon.

Lifting the rod over his head Reno prepared to swing the rod when Cloud was close enough, but was dismayed when Cloud leapt high into the air.

Before he knew what had happened the rod was being ripped out of his grasp and Cloud's somersaulting body was behind him. With one quick swing Cloud sent the rod into the Turk's face, shattering the tip of his nose.

Quickly ducking the next blow Reno bent low and kicked out Cloud's legs, sending him to the floor of the platform.

The Turk then stood up and removed his hair from his face. After a quick look at his watch he held up his phone and said, "It's time." He limped over to the edge of the platform and leaped onto the hovering helicopter.

Cloud knew he had to do something. He stood up slowly and made his way to the mechanism on the pillar. "This is not a normal time bomb," he said aloud after a few seconds of studying.

From the helicopter a voice yelled, "That's right. You'll have a hard time disarming that one. It'll blow up the second someone touches it!"

Cloud looked up and saw a familiar face. It was a man named Tseng, the head of the Turks.

Tifa, her eyes open now, looked at him and yelled, "Please stop it! You can't do this!"

"Ha, ha, ha!" Tseng barked. "Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System. You all are shit out of luck!"

Barret threw a nearby guard's empty gun at the helicopter and yelled, "Shut up, you Shinra filth!"

A small smile formed within Tseng's thin lips. "I would be careful . . . you might just injure our special guest." Grabbing her by the hair, Tseng raised Aeris' head into sight.

"Aeris!" Cloud and Tifa yelled simultaneously.

Tseng laughed. "Oh, you know each other? How nice that you could see each other one last time. You should thank me."

Cloud stepped forward and shouted, "What are you going to do with Aeris!?"

Tseng shrugged. "I haven't decided. And frankly, it's not up to me. Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the President."

Aeris leaned towards them, still being held by Tseng. "Tifa, don't worry! She's all right!" Tseng yanked her back and slapped her hard in the face. She fell to the floor of the helicopter out of sight.

The Turk laughed again and then gave the trio a condescending wave. "Well, it should be starting right about now. Think you can escape in time?"

He was out of sight in seconds as the helicopter swiftly flew up and away.

11

From up above they heard the pillar start to explode in various substantial sections along its length. Chunks of flaming steel along with concrete the size of houses began to fall towards the ground below.

Tifa frantically yelled, "Once the plate starts coming down it'll be too late. We gotta hurry!" She started heading for the stairs.

Barret grabbed her and yelled, "No! There's no time!" He hastily looked around and then pointed to a long wire attached to the platform. The wire was connected from the platform they were standing on all the way to the edge of the plate on the divide of Sectors 6 and 7. "We can use this wire to get out!"

Tifa looked at him, not sure that his idea would work. But with larger and larger portions of the tower coming down she had no time to consider any other option.

Barret held onto the wire while Cloud used his recovered sword to cut it from the platform. Tifa grabbed onto the wire and closed her eyes.

And then it happened.

The full explosion incinerated the remaining pieces of the pillar and blew the team away from the platform.

In the nick of time Cloud had grabbed onto Barret, not even getting a grip on the broad wire.

Rushing away from the exploding pillar at an intense speed the trio could hear the plate start to release, the metal moaning and groaning as it rubbed and began to drop.

As they swung down and away, faster and faster, they could hear the screams of not only the people below them, but of the people who had not yet left the plate above them.

The noise deafened them.

The dust and wind blinded them.

The collapsing and cracking plate was coming closer by the second, the sky above literally falling towards them.

Their hearts were beating faster than they had ever beaten before, the distinct thumping in their ears almost as loud as the destruction happening around them.

Hanging on for their lives they rushed by the structures and garbage of the slums so fast that all they could make out was a brownish blur of items. The intense speed wrinkled their skin and even made it impossible to keep their tearing eyes open any longer.

The ground was getting closer.

A quarter mile away from where the pillar had been, still clinging onto the wire, they heard the massive section of the plate hit the ground with a gargantuan dissonance of clamor. Dust and debris filled the air and choked their struggling lungs.

Everything in Sector 7 had been flattened.

Everything . . . and everyone.

The wire was almost touching the hardened ground. With what seemed to be only a few feet away from the giant crash of death the team finally fell off of the wire and crashed into the garbage and other items scattered along the soiled slum floor.

Dust and smoke blocked their vision as they rolled and rolled, crashing into anything in their paths.

When they finally stopped moving they could no longer hear the screams of the Sector 7 citizens.

There was no longer anyone to scream.


	22. 1-22 A Flickering Flame

22. A Flickering Flame

1

President Shinra slowly hung up the desk phone, a grin plastered across his shining face. He was standing on the 70th floor of his building and looking down at the wreckage that had just taken place below. He raised the volume of the record that he had been listening to before the phone call had come. Still smiling, he sat down at his desk.

Not only had he just witnessed the destruction of the Sector 7 slums, as well as the destruction of the meddling rebels, but he had also been informed by Tseng that the last surviving Ancient had finally been captured.

He'd been through a lot of trouble and many restless nights waiting for this day to come.

_And now it's here . . ._

'We have her . . .' Tseng had said.

And he had responded, 'You're positive? You're certain it's her?'

Tseng had laughed at the inquiry, and that had been okay with Felix because that assured him above all else that Tseng was positive, and that he did in fact have the Ancient.

'It's her,' Tseng had replied.

The President turned the volume knob once again, and thought about how easy everything was going to be from here on out.

_AVALANCHE has been taken care of and Neo-Midgar is within my grasp,_ he thought. _This day will be remembered forever . . ._

Sipping his coffee he leaned back in his leather chair and yawned. He would sleep well tonight.

2

Nanaki awoke on a cold concrete floor in a room absent of light. His muscles were stiff and the area near his flank where one of the needles had pierced him was throbbing listlessly.

As his feline eyes adjusted to the darkness – a trait that had aided him many times back in the dark tunnels of Cosmo Canyon – he could see that he was in a small steel room with one flimsy cot against the far wall.

Minute by minute as he recovered his senses and stretched out his rigid muscles he recalled faint glimpses within his recent memory.

The memories were shadowy, only brief displays that were edged with a thin yet billowy fog.

One memory was of the old man, Bridgeman, letting Nanaki into his house in Gongaga.

The next was of two suited men – _Turks,_ he thought - attacking him, a needle jabbing into his side, darkness.

The next was of waking inside of a small wooden crate, and after a brief struggle with the solid walls feeling another needle enter his body . . . then darkness once again.

The final wisp of memory involved his sagging body being pried out of the wooden crate and dumped onto the cold, hard floor. He had been conscious but his body had still been paralyzed as he reluctantly greeted the floor. Shortly after, on some deep level within his soul, he had felt a tremendous force of power close by.

The men that had brought him to the cell had also reacted, and now Nanaki guessed that somewhere nearby there had been a monumental explosion.

Before he had blacked out again he had seen the Shinra guards' unmasked and smiling faces, so he assumed that whatever had happened had not been something that would hurt the Shinra in any shape or form.

Because of his current lack of strength it still took all four of his strapping legs to help him leap up onto the gaunt, decrepit cot. He yawned, stretching his muzzle and feeling darkness creeping in at the corners of his vision.

_How has this happened?_

He shifted his weight, trying to find a comfortable position on the thin bed.

Two more thoughts occurred to him at that time, both frightening and both seemingly unanswerable at the present.

_Why has this happened, and is the Canyon safe?_

The dull room that he unwillingly occupied faded from gray to black.

3

He awoke later, although how long he had slept he didn't know.

The dark room was gone, the new area bright and filled with metal and blinking lights.

He was moving, and he realized that he was on a gurney of some kind.

"Wha . . ." he mumbled, attempting to speak.

"Shut it, you freak," one of the men pushing the gurney spat before sending the back of his hand across Nanaki's dazed face.

The sights around him were blurred and bewildered as he was pushed down numerous hallways and through various crowded rooms.

He'd been injected with something, and he guessed that it was a different drug than the one he'd been injected with the other times. Even though he felt drained, and his limbs were not under his control, he felt much more responsive.

After the gurney he was riding passed through a set of swinging doors the trek came to an abrupt stop.

Using all of his strength Nanaki tilted his head forward, far enough to see a white-coated man with long black hair staring in his direction.

The man didn't smile, nor did he grin. There was merely a deep look of longing and satisfaction written on his impassive, pale face.

Taking a few steps forward the man said, "My name is Dorian Hojo." He placed his hands behind his back and took another step in Nanaki's direction. Softly stroking Nanaki's flaming fur he whispered, "You are my newest specimen . . . although you won't be the newest for long . . ." He tittered for a second before the lifeless glare returned to his black eyes. "The Ancient has finally been retrieved . . . and you two are going to get to know each other . . ."

Another man in a white coat approached the gurney, a small device of some kind held in his grasp.

"Now, sir?" the man asked, looking at Hojo.

The scientist nodded. "Yes . . ."

The man with the device lowered his hand to Nanaki's body and a small, squirming pain suddenly raced through the canyon creature's flaccid body. Out of the corner of his eye he could see thick, black letters taking form on the rear left leg of his body.

As the man continued to tattoo him Nanaki faintly heard Hojo laugh to himself before he said, "Red XIII . . . how fitting . . ."

Nanaki's vision gave out on him even as he heard Hojo begin to titter once again. The confidence and pride he had always contained within his canyon-raised soul was now but a flickering flame, one soft gust away from being snuffed out.


	23. 1-23 Origins

23. Origins

1

Wishing that what had just happened had been part of a sick, horrifying dream, Barret, who was sprawled on the dusty ground, looked to the area where the gate to Sector 7 had been just minutes ago. Covered head to foot in dust he sat utterly motionless, hoping to wake up from the vivid nightmare. It was when Cloud hovered over him and stuck out his hand that Barret finally had to admit that this wasn't a dream.

2

Standing in the soiled playground outside of the gate that sat near the demolished ruin of Sector 7, as well as the still brightly-lit and standing Wal-Market, the team was silent. Barret stood frozen, staring at the pile of metal thirty feet high where the gate had been.

Everything had been crushed.

Dust swirled around the playground, settling softly onto the remains in the area. The old slide that Aeris and Cloud had sat on earlier that day had been tipped over and broken into a half-dozen chunky pieces.

There was no entrance to Sector 7 anymore . . . for there was literally no Sector 7 anymore.

As the flutter of dust slowly dissipated Cloud looked up to a sight he had never seen while standing in the slums.

_The sky . . ._

Running over to the wall of debris Barret, with a mixture of fury and desperation, yelled, "Marlene! Marlene!" He ran to the side of the wall, looking for a way in. "Biggs!" He ran to the other side. "Wedge!" He ran back to the center. "Jessie!" With his left arm and his gun he let out all of his aggression and punched the wall viciously.

Tifa and Cloud looked at each other, and then at Barret. They knew that nothing could be said to comfort any of them right now – least of all Barret.

"Goddamnit! Damnit all to Hell!" Barret screamed, his voice hoarse. With his hand he began picking up random scraps of metal and throwing them at the wall of debris. He screamed, "What the hell's it all for!?"

When Cloud saw Barret smash his hand into the rubble he finally shouted, "Hey, Barret!" After all that had happened he didn't want Barret to injure the only functioning hand that he had.

Tifa, equally as worried, yelled, "Barret! No!" As they ran to him they heard him curse the sky. Tifa slowly put her hand on his shoulder. After he felt the contact he stopped screaming. When he turned around and looked at her his eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears. She said, "Barret . . . please stop, Barret." She paused, looking past him and to the rubble he had been cursing. "This can't be happening . . ."

Cloud shook his head as he looked at the pile of smoking debris. If anyone had somehow survived they wouldn't even be able to get out of the rubble to get help.

_How would we even help them? Bring them to Shinra - the same Shinra that caused all of this death and destruction?_

Barret fell to his knees. Touching the firm ground with his hand he slowly whispered, "Goddamn . . ." He punched the ground once before he looked up at Cloud and then got to his feet. Walking towards the overturned slide he slurred, "Marlene . . ."

After he had sat down into a hopeless slump Tifa gently walked up to him. Putting her hand on his knee she said, "Barret . . ." She waited for him to look her in the eyes. When he eventually looked up she said, "Marlene is . . . I think Marlene is safe." Although his facial expression didn't change, tears filled up in his dark eyes again. Tifa continued, "Right before the helicopter flew away with Aeris, she said, 'Don't worry, she's all right.' She was probably talking about Marlene."

Standing up quicker than he had ever moved in his entire life Barret yelled, "Really!?"

Cloud walked over to them, wiping the dirt, sweat, and tears from his face.

Tifa went on. "But . . ."

As if knowing what Tifa was going to say, Barret hollered, "But . . . Biggs . . . Wedge . . . Jessie . . ."

Trying to comfort them as well as himself, Cloud said, "All three of them were on the pillar. AVALANCHE fought together."

"Think I don't know that?" Barret turned around so he couldn't face them. "But . . . all of us fought together." He sat on the broken slide again. "I don't wanna think of them as dead!"

Tifa sighed. "And the other people in Sector 7 – above and below . . ."

Barret yelled, "This is all screwed up! They destroyed an entire village just to get us! They killed so many people!"

Tifa's eyes widened. "Are you saying it's our fault . . . because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?"

He stood up and shook his head. "No, Tifa! That ain't it! Hell no! It ain't us! It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the goddamn Shinra!"

Cloud turned away from them and walked to the entrance of the playground. Tuning out Barret he again turned his thoughts to Aeris and on the events that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

Barret continued, "They're evil and destroyin' our Planet just to build their power and line their own damn pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill the Planet!" Tifa looked at the ground, breaking their eye contact. Barret raised his fist and continued, "Our fight ain't never gonna be over until we get rid of them!"

After a short sigh, Tifa shook her head slowly. "I don't know . . ."

"What don't you know!? You don't believe me?"

She looked up at him. "It's not that. I believe you. I'm just not sure about . . . me . . . _my_ feelings."

Looking away from her and over to Cloud, who still had his back turned, Barret said, "An' what about you?"

Without responding Cloud walked out of the playground, back towards the dumping zone of Sector 6.

Barret yelled, "Yo!" When Cloud didn't turn back around Barret again looked at Tifa. "Where's he think he's goin'?"

Tifa realized what Cloud was probably thinking about. "Oh! Aeris!"

"Oh yeah, that girl. What's up with her?"

Tifa shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. But . . . she's the one I left in charge of Marlene."

Opening his eyes wide Barret ran for the entrance. "Oh God! Marlene!" Before he walked through the opening in the fence he turned back and looked at her. "Tifa . . . there ain't no turnin' back now. Someone's gotta stop the Shinra, and that someone is us. Ain't no getting' offa this train . . ."

She knew that that was true for Barret. Once he was committed to something he would never stop until he had achieved his goal.

But she was different. She couldn't handle the type of violence that she had seen today. So much of her life had changed because of such senseless violence.

But was she just going to walk away from it all now, the moment that she could truly attempt to help put an end to the Shinra? As she thought about it she started to believe that she really didn't have a choice. No matter how bad the situation got she would be compelled to seek justice, she would be compelled to put an end to the Shinra.

Barret jogged on ahead but she slowly walked out of the ruined playground. Looking over her shoulder at the wall of debris she sighed. Brushing some dirt out of her hair she made her way after the others.

3

Having caught up with Barret, the duo ran and met Cloud walking slowly along the broken road of Sector 6. Litter lay on the smutty soil as natural as the lifeless dirt and inflexible rock.

Barret looked at him. "Cloud, take me to Marlene!"

Cloud only stared at him, his face blank.

Tifa questioned, "You're going to go help Aeris?"

He looked at them both, his eyes bloodshot and stressed. "Yeah. But before that, there's something I want to know . . . something I need to know."

"What's that?"

He stepped forward and looked far ahead, seeing through the rubbish that lay scattered everywhere in the area. "It's about the Ancients."

Not realizing he had fallen, everything suddenly went black. A voice inside of his head, not the genderless one from before, but one he knew all the same, whispered, "In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this Planet."

Cloud knew the baleful voice. It brought chills down his spine. Those words would stay with him forever. He would never forget that day back in Nibelheim five years ago . . .

The darkness vanished and Cloud found himself shaking and holding himself. He was frightened. He looked around the garbage-filled area, his weakened form trembling. Thinking about the voice and what the voice had said, he whispered, "Sephiroth . . ."

Tifa, pretending that she hadn't just heard that horrible, evil name from the past, leaned over him and said, "Are you all right?"

Barret helped him up. "Pull it together man!"

There were many thoughts from Cloud's past resurfacing into his mind, memories that he hoped would never again re-emerge.

_This isn't the time to be thinking about him . . ._ he thought, even though he still saw Sephiroth's sinister eyes within his mind.

4

With the smell of fire and ruin still in the air the team slowly walked through Sector 6 and entered Sector 5. No one was in sight, most likely hiding in their homes from any other potential danger that could come to the slums. With the fact that a piece of the plate could fall from above, many options were left open about what could, opposed to what couldn't, harm them.

Following Cloud's lead they soon were past the donut-shaped area of Sector 5 and heading straight for the looming heap of trash ahead.

Cloud stopped his walk for a second, realizing now that he could actually see Aeris' beautiful home standing beyond the garbage.

_She had me close my eyes last time,_ he thought, remembering the peculiar sensation he had felt after he had reopened his eyes to see the house instead of the never-ending pile of trash. _Before she was caught, she must have . . . she must have used whatever powers she has to dismiss the illusion._

The sight of Aeris' cottage was just as wonderful as before, although without the protection that it had had Cloud didn't think it would stay wonderful for long.

Without knocking, Cloud walked inside. Tifa and Barret took a second to look at the beautiful and serene landscape, their eyes darting from this to that as they wondered if they were still truly in the slums.

Inside, Elmyra was standing across from the door, facing the wall. Hurt was written across her pallid face. Without looking at him Elmyra asked, "Cloud . . . wasn't it?" Tifa and Barret entered, still gawking at their surroundings. Turning around Elmyra looked deep into Cloud's eyes. "It's about Aeris, isn't it?"

He nodded his head slowly. "I'm sorry. But . . . the Shinra have her."

"I know. They took her from here."

Puzzled, Cloud asked, "They were here?"

"That's what Aeris wanted." She wiped a tear away from her cheek.

To her left was a photograph of Aeris and her. Elmyra took a quick glance at it and then turned away.

Walking closer to her Cloud asked, "Why is the Shinra after Aeris?"

She again glanced at the photograph and then turned to meet Cloud's eyes. "Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor."

Barret stepped forward, his mouth gaped open. "What did you say?" He too had seen the photograph. "But, aren't you her mother?"

Elmyra gave him a tiny smile and continued, "Not her real mother." She looked up at the ceiling. "Oh . . . it must have been fifteen years ago, during the war. My husband was sent to the front, to some faraway place called Wutai." She sat down and took a deep breath. "One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave."

5

The sound of a train whistle suddenly filled the air, bright and powerful.

As the train approached the station Elmyra focused on the deafening activity east of the station. Earlier in the season Shinra had developed a much more efficient locomotive and was in the process of destroying the old trains.

However, this never happened, and what Elmyra was observing was the very beginning of what came to be known as the Train Graveyard.

Waiting anxiously at the Sector 7 train station Elmyra watched as the train came to a slow stop. Dozens of joyous people got off of the train and ran to their awaiting families, their arms outstretched. The blessed reunion of families always brought great happiness.

But for Elmyra, that pleasure never came.

The trainman waved goodbye to the last family and gave a solemn look to Elmyra. With a quick, uneasy smile he turned around and boarded the train.

The train door closed and the harsh finality of the two doors slamming together assured her that her husband wasn't on the train. Burying her hands in her face she sat on the steps of the station and cried.

Peering through the small windows on the train the trainman watched Elmyra weep on the steps until the train was out of sight. Closing his eyes tightly he prayed that the distant war would soon come to an end.

6

"My husband never came back," Elmyra continued before blowing her nose into a tissue that Cloud had plucked from the table and handed to her. "I wondered if something had happened to him." She looked at Cloud. "No . . . I was sure his leave was just cancelled or something. But I still went to the station every day. Then one day . . ."

7

Walking to the station, her usual routine at this point in time, Elmyra found a sight that she hadn't seen the numerous other occasions she had been to Sector 7 in recent days. There was no happiness to be found, only sincere pain.

On the platform outside of the train tracks a woman, hanging on to the edge of her life, was laying on the ground. She wore a ruby-colored dress that was in tatters and covered what appeared to be a weak and fragile body.

A little girl in a pink dress was frantically running around her, crying for help. No other pedestrians were around.

Elmyra ran and kneeled at the woman's side. The little girl, terribly shaken up, ran and embraced her.

8

The others intuitively listened as Elmyra continued. "The woman's - Aeris' mother's - last words were, 'Please take Aeris somewhere safe'. Aeris was too young at the time to remember the reason why, but I had realized right away that most of the child's life had been spent on the run." She paused. "My husband never came back from Wutai, I had no child of my own, and I was very lonely in my corner of the slums. I hadn't yet had this lovely cottage but it was nice enough just having someone in my small home with me. Watching the child's mother die before my eyes I could do nothing else but take Aeris home with me."

The group decided to sit down. Elmyra offered them each a glass of water but they all refused. They wanted to hear the rest of the story. For Cloud it felt like he truly _needed_ to hear it.

Elmyra sat down and with a smile said, "Aeris and I became close very quickly. Oh . . . she certainly loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything." She looked across the room where another picture of Aeris hung on the wall. "She told me she had escaped from some sort of research laboratory somewhere, and that her mother had already returned to the Planet and that she wasn't lonely, as well as many other things."

Clearing his throat Barret asked, "Returned to the Planet?"

She gave him a little smile. "I didn't know what she meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky. But she said it was _this_ Planet. She was a mysterious child in many ways."

9

"Mom," Aeris said softly as she walked down the rickety stairs of Elmyra's previous dwelling. "Please don't cry." Elmyra didn't know what to say. She sat at the table and watched as Aeris walked closer to her, a pained, yet collected look on young her face. Aeris touched Elmyra's hand and said, "Someone dear to you has just died. His spirit was coming to see you, but he already returned to the Planet."

10

"At the time I didn't believe her. But several days later . . . we received a notice saying my husband had died . . ." She fought back the urge to sob and then looked at Tifa. Both of their eyes were filled with tears. "And that's how it was. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day . . ."

11

The future leader of the Turks, Tseng, stood in the main room of the slum home. Aeris was standing behind Elmyra, holding tight to her leg. Tseng looked sternly at her and said, "We want you to return Aeris to us. We've been searching for her for a long time."

Aeris looked out from behind Elmyra's legs. "No! Never!"

He squatted down and looked at her, a false smile on his face. "Aeris, you're a very special child. You are of special blood. Your real mother was an Ancient."

Elmyra's eyes widened when she heard this. Although she knew that Aeris was special, she was not prepared for something like that. Even as a child she had heard myths and folklore about the Ancients and how they had met their end long ago. She never dreamed that some of the ancestors of the Ancients had survived until the present day.

Tseng stood straight up and continued, "The Ancients will lead us to a land of supreme happiness. Aeris will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aeris' cooperation."

Aeris tugged on Elmyra's shirt. "He's wrong! I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!"

Tseng walked closer to her. "But Aeris, even at this point in your young life I'm sure that you've sometimes heard voices when you're all alone . . ."

"No I haven't!" Aeris turned and then ran up the stairs.

12

"But I knew. I knew about her mysterious powers." Elmyra let out a short and mirthless laugh. "She tried so hard to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."

Cloud put his hand on top of hers. "I'm guessing that she eventually used the powers she has to construct and hide this house . . . but it's still amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all of these years."

"The Shinra needed her," Elmyra responded, "so I guess they wouldn't harm her." She paused. "As for the house . . . yes. At first she had tried to tell me that she'd found it, but eventually she talked to me about her powers, and how the house had been built long ago by her ancestors."

Tifa raised her arms in confusion. "But, why now after all this time? Why harm her now?"

Shuddering at the thought of Aeris being harmed Elmyra stood up abruptly. Her heart felt like a stone being chiseled away with a jackhammer. After a minute of silence she said, "She brought a little girl here with her. On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go with him in exchange for the little girl's safety."

Cloud looked at Barret. "Must be Marlene."

Barret jumped out of his seat. "Marlene! Aeris was caught because of Marlene!?" He walked to Elmyra. He explained, "Marlene's my daughter. I'm . . . really sorry."

She scolded him. "You're her father!? How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that!?"

"She wasn't really . . ." he began, but gave up with a sigh. "Please don't start with that. I think about it all the time. What would happen to her, if I . . ." He took a deep breath. "But you gotta understand somethin' . . . I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene, but I gotta fight. Cuz if I don't . . . the Planet's gonna die." He stomped the floor with his big foot. "So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried about Marlene. I really just wanna be with her. Always." He sighed again. "See? I'm going in circles."

Elmyra looked at him with content. "I think I understand what you're saying. She's upstairs asleep. Why don't you go and see her." Barret ran upstairs as if his life depended on it.

With her head down on the table Tifa said, "It's my fault. I asked her to go get Marlene. I was the one who got Aeris involved in this."

Elmyra closed her eyes and put her hand on Tifa's shoulder. "Don't say that. Aeris doesn't think that."

13

While they were talking Cloud walked upstairs to see how Marlene was doing.

He couldn't help but focus on the question burning in his mind that Tifa had asked earlier.

_Why now? Why take Aeris now after fifteen years? What does Shinra plan on doing with her now after all this time? Why harm her now?_

When he reached the top of the stairs he looked into Aeris' room where Barret and Marlene were hugging fiercely on the bed.

"I'm so glad you're all right," Barret said. He hugged her firmly, tears flowing down his face.

The young girl hugged him back. "Daddy, don't cry." His cheek was on hers. "Papa, your whiskers hurt!" Barret laughed and stood up.

Seeing Cloud behind him he said, "Cloud!" Cloud smiled at Marlene and then looked up at Barret. The large man said, "You gonna go help Aeris, right? She's done so much for me. If it's the Shinra you're dealin' with, I can't just sit here! I'm comin' too!"

Marlene jumped off the bed and ran to Cloud. Giggling she said, "Guess what? Guess what? Aeris was asking me lots of questions. Like what kind of person you are and stuff. I bet she likes you, Cloud."

He winked at her. "I dunno . . ." he said, exaggerated.

She smiled and whispered, "I won't tell Tifa." Cloud laughed out loud – and loved the feeling of the unanticipated glee - and then walked back down the stairs, glad to see that Marlene was doing fine.

Tifa was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "You're going after Aeris, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going with you."

Cloud gave her a serious look, not sure if she was ready for such a mission. "We're going right into Shinra headquarters. We've gotta be prepared for the worst."

"I know. Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit." She looked around the humble little room. Looking at the picture of Aeris she still felt a touch of guilt and responsibility for what had happened to her. "If I stayed here . . . I'd go crazy."

Barret ran down the stairs making his usual amount of noise. He looked at Elmyra. "Sorry, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?"

The old woman smiled. "I don't mind. Of course."

He smiled back and said, "This place is dangerous now. You better go somewhere else." He paused. "Not even just out of this house or this sector . . . but out of Midgar."

"You're right. In a week or so I'll head to Kalm and stay with a friend of mine. But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed." Barret nodded and kissed Marlene's cheek, as well as Elmyra's.

14

After a short period of rest and recuperation the team walked out of the cottage and stood in the tranquil yard, preparing themselves mentally for what they were about to do.

Tifa asked, "How do we get to the Shinra building?"

Barret looked at her and said, "There ain't no train that goes up there anymore . . ."

Deep in thought, Cloud said, "Well, the Shinra building is just above Sector 6. Maybe there's another way up from Wal-Market that we can use." He thought about Don Corneo and knew that the fat man wouldn't have dared take a train filled with people of the slums when he needed to travel up to the plate.

Barret looked at him, unconfident about the plan, but having no other suggestions himself. "Yeah, maybe . . ."

Cloud stepped forward. He silently said goodbye to the cottage and started walking in the direction of Sector 6, the soothing sights of the cottage leisurely morphing into the refuse more normally associated with the slums. With Barret and Tifa behind him, absolutely no plan devised whatsoever, and minimal supplies, he said, "Here we go."

And off they went, about to do something that no one in the history of Shinra's existence had ever done before.


	24. 2-1 The Unknown

Part 2

Headquarters

"_Yeah, I saw him! I saw him with my own two eyes!_"_ Palmer was shaking uncontrollably._

"_You really saw him?_"_ Cloud asked, not wanting it to be true._

"_Would I lie to you at a time like this!? I heard his voice too!_"_ Tears rolled down his plump cheeks. _"_He was saying something about not letting us have the Promised Land._"

1. The Unknown

1

For countless generations the Cosmo Candle burned throughout night and day. Sitting on top of a jutting sand-colored rock centered in the main square of the canyon the small flame was a sign of hope and perseverance for all of the canyon folk, relentlessly outlasting the tedious elements around it.

_And we certainly need a sense of hope,_ Bugenhagen thought as he got to his feet, bowing his head in the direction of the quietly popping flame.

As he turned to the Elders still seated within the circle around the Candle he said, "I have some things I need to do."

Elder Hargo's eyes remained fixed on the swirling flame. "At this night of the time, Bugenhagen?"

Bugenhagen shrugged, knowing that the gesture was folly as the man he was talking to couldn't see him. "I'll be all right, Elder Hargo." He then turned to Elder Bugah. "You both stay as long as you deem necessary. But stay close to the flame . . . there is a chill in the air tonight."

There was an enduring moment of silence so Bugenhagen nodded his head once again and then turned towards the rounded steps that had been carved into the sand-cut rock long ago.

When the old man reached the first step, wincing a bit as an audible pop sounded out from his knees, Elder Bugah said, "These are troubling times . . . are they not?"

Bugenhagen made to turn, but opted instead to keep his eyes forward, looking out past the canyon and to the starlit foothills and ocean beyond Cosmo Canyon.

"They are indeed," he calmly replied. "But we will do as the Candle does." He began walking down the steps again and whispered, "We will persevere."

2

Three hours later Bugenhagen was sitting on hard rock once again, trying to catch his breath. The late night stroll had really taken its toll on his fragile body, but he was relieved that his thick cerulean robe had kept him warm.

Beside him, a voice said, "You should not be making this trip so late at night, old friend." There was a brief pause. "You should not be making this trip at all . . ."

Still struggling for air, Bugenhagen replied, "Ho Ho Hooo! But if I were to not come and see you, who would? No one else knows that you are here . . . old friend."

The darkened figure beside him said, "It matters to me not. I've explained before that I am never really alone anyhow, Bugenhagen, and it is such a risk for you to be coming to see me."

The old man shrugged. "Stubborn as usual, my old friend . . ." He slowly got to his tired and slightly aching feet and approached the figure. "There are things that I need to say."

A hint of concern entered the tone of the other's voice. "Things you need to say . . . as in . . .?"

Bugenhagen sighed. "There are happenings within the Planet that are concerning me. I told you last time about the noise I am hearing from the sky?"

"Yes," the low voice answered. "You referred to the noise as the 'Cries of the Planet'. An ominous description if I say so myself, for I sometimes hear . . ." The voice tapered off.

"Yes?" Bugenhagen said eagerly.

After a moment the voice responded, "I'm sorry. I've told you before that I'm not allowed to reveal to you the scheme of things as I see them."

The old man felt that same small rush of anger fill his body as it had done countless times before. "You can't say what you see . . . even if the very existence of the Planet depends on it?"

"I'm sorry, old friend." The figure was silent for another long moment. "I understand how frustrating this can be . . . but I truly did not ask to be in the situation that I live through every day."

3

Bugenhagen sighed once again, and then looked up to the sky, tilting his head slightly in an attempt to hear some of the chillingly soft static that seemingly fell from the heavens.

He knew that he shouldn't have expected anything more from his hidden friend this time around, but that didn't make the disappointment he was currently feeling anymore tolerable.

He'd made the long trek this time with the same intention he'd had on the previous trip, to inform his friend that there were things happening on the Planet. The cries were becoming more frequent and more pronounced, thoroughly justifying the ominous feeling that was also becoming more frequent and more pronounced within his old body.

But he'd also come to inform his friend about Nanaki. He had come to tell the shadowy figure standing in front of him that the last canyon creature had yet to return from his monthly voyage to Gongaga.

_Is there a connection between the goings-on of the Planet and Nanaki's disappearance?_

Bugenhagen didn't know . . . but it felt right.

Deep in his soul he knew that it felt right.

4

"No," Bugenhagen finally said aloud. "I am the one who is sorry. I've just grown so concerned with the Planet."

The old man knew now that he wasn't going to tell his old friend about Nanaki. He wasn't certain why, but he knew it to be true.

The figure in front of him said, "The Planet, as it always did and still does, is monitoring the situation . . . I can tell you that much."

Bugenhagen looked up, slightly ashamed that he was already hoping his friend would reveal more.

The voice continued, "But the things I see do not qualify as answers, Bugenhagen. There is no wisdom to be found in simply viewing glimpses of the future."

"I know," the old man said. "It is the choices we make that truly determine the outcome of an event."

"Yes, Bugenhagen, that is the true form of wisdom."

Bugenhagen took a breath and delicately cried, "It is just so difficult . . . to stand here knowing that you possess knowledge about what is to come during these troubling times."

The voice questioned, "Are these times truly so troubling? I have seen many things but one thing I know for certain is that hope remains . . . just as the Cosmo Candle still remains."

The old man's eyes widened. "You have seen the Candle?"

After a miniscule laugh, the figure answered, "No, Bugenhagen . . . I can smell the blaze's smoke on your robe."

Bugenhagen was surprised to hear himself laugh.

"Hope is a valiant ally to have," the figure said. "You must hold on to it . . . and continue what has been your way now for quite some time."

"Continue with the study of the Planet?" Bugenhagen asked, noticing for the first time that he could see his breath in the bitter air.

"Yes . . ." the voice replied. "But also . . . continue listening to it, and . . ." The voice trailed off again. "I'm sorry, I can say no more. But please, Bugenhagen . . ."

"Yes?"

"Please . . . keep a firm hold onto the hope that you find, and do what you feel you need to do to find it in the first place."

Bugenhagen took a moment to let those last words soak in, and then said, "I will, I just . . ." He sighed, willing himself to mention Nanaki's undetermined fate.

Before he could say anything, his old friend said, "It appears that I am not the only one who contains secrets this night."

"Well . . ."

"No, Bugenhagen," the voice sternly said. "Sleep on it, and remember what I said. There is always hope . . ."

5

Hours later as the old man made his way back to his cabin that sat on the pinnacle of the canyon, he thought, _He is right, there is always hope . . . I just have to search for it._

As he unhurriedly walked in the crisp night air he promised himself that in the morning he would take action, regardless of his age and his old body.

There wasn't much he could do for the Planet as far as he knew, but he would do what he could for Nanaki.

"There is always hope . . ."


	25. 2-2 A Golden Shiny Wire of Hope

2. A Golden Shiny Wire of Hope

1

_This isn't just about Aeris._

Cloud knew that this wasn't just about rescuing Aeris from the Shinra. It was also about revenge.

Revenge for Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie.

Revenge for the trainman and the poor man that lived on the train.

Revenge for the young couple that had found love even amongst the bitter sadness of the slums.

Revenge for the man who's heartfelt passion was to gaze at the pillar from dawn until dusk.

Even revenge for Johnny's parents, as well as Johnny's lonely friends.

So many people had been killed and so many others had been affected by those deaths.

And now, as if enough damage hadn't been done, they had taken Aeris away.

_Aeris, who has only tried to help us from the moment we met her._

This was revenge for all of those who had died or had been affected by Shinra's actions, for Aeris, Elmyra, and Marlene, and for the sake of Planet, which Cloud was now willing to fight for with all of his heart.

_Shinra's control over the Planet will come to an end tonight. To this I swear on my mother's grave._

He repeated this to himself for every face that he saw on their trek to Sector 6, swearing that by the end of the night President Felix Shinra would be dead.

2

Taking time along the way to clean and bandage their wounds the team eventually found themselves standing outside of the Corneo mansion. Looking up at the plate above them they understood how all of the people in Sector 7 must have felt not too long ago. Dust and smoke were still rising and leaking over into Sector 6.

From where they were standing they were only about a hundred feet away from the edge of the destruction.

The rear of Don's mansion was located only feet away from the crash site. It was amazing that the mansion, built on the very edge of Sector 6, hadn't sustained any obvious damage.

"So do we break into the mansion and find out how we can get up to the plate?" Tifa asked.

"No," Cloud quickly answered. "We know that Corneo is a part of the Shinra. We don't need him to see us and let them know that we're still alive."

"That's right . . ." Tifa said, realizing that Tseng or Reno had probably informed President Shinra that the team had died on the reactor tower.

Barret shrugged. "Well then what the hell are we . . .?"

He was cut off by a small boy who shuffled past him. He was followed by another little boy and a small girl, no older than Marlene.

"Now we can climb up to the city!" one of the boys said. "We just gotta make sure we get back before my mom gets home."

The other boy stopped and turned to the girl. Pointing to the right of the mansion he asked, "Wanna see something awesome? Follow me!" They all ran out of sight.

Barret was stupefied. "You gotta be kidding me. Did we actually just get lucky?"

Tifa shrugged. "Maybe . . . I mean something good had to happen eventually." She then ran to go see what the boys were talking about. Cloud and Barret followed.

3

They came upon the immense wall that separated the two sectors. Although cracked and riddled with debris it was solid and still standing. A power line hung down the middle, only a few feet away from the ground.

Graffiti saturated the bottom of the wall, most of it anti-Shinra remarks. All along the ground were chunks from the wall that had fallen off during the plate crash.

The boys were gone but the little girl sat on the ground by the wire and looked up. When Tifa approached her she said, "My friends climbed up this wire." She gulped. "Looks scary . . ."

Looking up Tifa saw the boys climbing away and then kneeled down next to the girl and asked, "Can we climb it?"

"Yeah. It leads to the Upper World now. Before . . . it was one of the power lines on the upper plate of Sector 7."

Barret rejoiced, "Awright! We did get lucky! We'll climb this wire!"

Cloud looked up the gigantic wall. One thousand feet up from where he was standing he could see the opening in the plate. But still, a thousand feet? He was lucky enough to be alive after falling once from that far up, let alone another fall without Aeris here to nurse him back to health.

He looked at Barret. "There's no way we can do this. You know how far up it goes?"

"But Cloud," Barret said running over to the wire. "This _is_ a way up! Possible the _only_ way up! We don't even know if there's any _other_ way. But we do know that we can go up _this_ way." He put his large hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Don't you get it? I mean come on . . . what does that look like to you?" He pointed to the hanging power line.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Looks like a wire."

"Oh yeah? Well to me it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope."

They all craned their necks to look up the wall again. Tifa ignored the butterflies in her gut. "You're right. This is the only way to save Aeris . . ."

Cloud reluctantly agreed. "Aright. Aright. But Barret . . . that was an awful analogy." Barret gave him a hard look. Cloud laughed. "But I do understand how you feel. I guess I just had second thoughts after my plummet from the reactor . . ."

Barret grinned. "Well, I suppose that's understandable."

Tifa quaintly grabbed the wire. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

4

So they climbed.

And climbed.

And climbed.

Every now and then there were cracks large enough in the wall to see the section of the plate that had fallen on Sector 7. From this height they could see the crumbled buildings and roads that used to be part of the city above. Now everything was a part of the flaming and dust-filled crater of Sector 7, which looked less like a village now and more like a gigantic pizza so scorched that its blackened form popped and hissed as it slowly sank into itself.

About halfway up they saw the two boys who had climbed the rope. They were sitting on a colossal crack that was gouged into the wall.

Sweating and aching horribly from the strain on their muscles due to the extreme climb the team was silent. But as they passed the boys they heard one say, "This is horrible." The other responded with, "Scary . . ."

And so they climbed on, begging their burning fingers not to lose grip.

5

Dizzy and exhausted, with limbs that felt like rubber, the team finally reached the top.

Rolling off of the wall onto the damaged street of the plate they sat down and caught their breaths.

The lights were terribly bright, the street was creepily silent, and as usual the sky was cloudy. Thick pillows of smoke erupted infinitely from the top of the remaining reactors.

Next to them a vast emptiness, where the section of the plate had been, existed, as if the buildings and the reactor that had sat on it had never been there at all.

Cloud turned his head so that he could see more of the cracked and shadowy street. When his eyes focused he realized that they were only a block away from the Shinra building and all of its evil glory.

_We're coming,_ he thought.

While much of the city sat in darkness, the power out because of the loss of another Mako reactor, the Shinra headquarters still shone bright, a mammoth statue of evil that seemed to be calling their names.

_We're coming. Don't you worry . . . we're coming._

6

After a few minutes of recuperation and stretching the team wandered their way over to the foot of the building. From where they stood they could see dozens of guards just past the entrance.

It was remarkable how silent everything around them was, but not unreasonable when you knew what events had taken place earlier in the evening.

Barret loaded his gunarm and said to Cloud, "Hey, you oughta know this building pretty well."

Cloud smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Uh, not really. Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've ever been to the headquarters."

"I thought you were in SOLDIER . . ."

"I was," Cloud responded. "But I was mainly stationed in Junon when I wasn't out on specific missions. By the time I joined SOLDIER the war in Wutai was over so there really wasn't too much going on." He took a moment to reflect back on a certain mission he had signed up for. Shaking his head while also shaking the memory away he added, "There wasn't too much going on . . . most of the time."

"And what's that supposed to mean, hot shot?"

Shaking his head, Cloud said, "Nothing, don't worry about it. I'll tell you about it another time."

Barret glanced up, looking at a blurred view of the top of the structure. "I heard about this place before. Every floor above the 60th is special and not easy to get to, even for employees." He looked back down and at Cloud. "Must be where they took Aeris."

_Aeris . . . I hope you're all right._

Barret finished loading his gunarm and yelled, "Awright, let's go!"

As he ran towards the door, Tifa cried, "Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?"

Cloud tensed up, knowing that Barret was seconds away from drawing attention to the group. Luckily the gunarmed man turned back from the door and said, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm gonna kick some Shinra ass and . . ."

Tifa interrupted him and held her fist out in anger. "That's not going to work!" More calmly she continued, "We've got to find another way."

"Ain't gonna be no other way if we keep wastin' time. If we do Aeris will . . ."

Tifa grunted. "Ugh, I know that! But you've gotta realize that if we get caught here . . ."

Cloud stepped forward and stopped the argument. "Barret, Tifa's right. Now I think there's some stairs down that alley over there. Most of the buildings in Midgar are designed the same, regardless of their size most have an easy to access fire escape. We have to sneak in quietly and get as far as we can without them knowing that we're here."

Sticking her tongue out at Barret, Tifa said, "See? We gotta be careful."

Barret glared at her, still not fully understanding why they weren't just going to bust right in. Reluctantly he followed her and Cloud down the alley and sure enough there was a door that read 'Fire Escape'.

With wide eyes they cautiously entered and looked up the massive amount of stairs. The sign to their left read 'Floor 1 – Floor 59'.

Barret asked, "Yo, are we really gonna take these stairs all the way up?"

Cloud nodded. "Sorry, big guy, but it's the best way to go. We'll be able to get pretty high up without drawing attention to ourselves." Just before Barret could protest, Cloud added, "These stairs could save Aeris' life."

Barret shrugged and said, "Fine . . ."

7

They started to climb. At first they were all together, but after a few flights they slowly started to separate. Cloud took the lead, followed by Tifa, and then Barret, who was trailing more and more as they trekked on.

Tifa, seeing the angst in Barret's face, said, "Well . . . we've got to get to Aeris somehow."

He snorted, "Talk about out of the way . . ."

"I don't want to argue with you!"

Cloud stopped and waited for them. Barret, out of breath, said, "Don't know . . . why the hell . . . we gotta climb . . ."

Looking straight into his exhausted brown eyes Cloud said, ". . . Because we don't want to start a commotion until we've saved Aeris." He started his ascension again. "I doubt that's possible though . . ."

While climbing Barret let out a chuckle. "Heh, heh, heh."

"Knock it off. You're giving me the creeps. What's so funny?"

Huffing and puffing, Barret responded, "Even _you_ will fight for someone else. I had you figured wrong I guess."

"Who cares what you figured!"

"I'm just sayin' maybe I was wrong . . ."

They heard Tifa laughing behind them. Slowly she started to pass Barret again. Apparently his huge body was not meant to climb stairs. He whined, "How much further do these godforsaken stairs go on?"

She laughed. "Why don't you ask them?"

"Don't be cute with me."

"Sorry . . . can't help it."

"It's not one of them endless stairways or something, do ya think?"

"Of course not!"

"Right . . . couldn't be that."

Cloud shouted down the stairs. "Hey, Barret, quit complaining. This is good for your legs."

"Listen, white boy, I'll show you 'good for your legs'. I'd break those sorry excuses for legs if I could climb up these damn stairs a little faster."

"Whoa," Tifa exclaimed. "A little antagonistic aren't we, Barret?"

"What I say about being cute with me?"

"What did I say about not being able to help it?" Tifa shot back.

"I'm the damn leader here anyways! Why the hell did I agree to this shit?"

"Barret?" Cloud said.

"Yeah?"

"Shut your mouth."

"Oh! You just wait you little spiky-headed jerk! When we get to the top I'm gonna kick the shit out of you! You're gonna be sorry you messed . . ."

"Barret?" Cloud said, interrupting him.

"What, goddamnit!?"

"Shut your mouth."

"Cloud, don't you . . ."

"Shut it."

He moaned. "Damn, man! I've had it! I'm going back!"

"And take just as long going down as you did coming up?" Tifa asked.

Barret moaned again.

8

Flight after flight after flight they climbed on, all of them now feeling fatigue crawling into their muscles.

Barret, red in the face and breathing like he had just climbed Mt. Nibel, asked, "Are we there yet?"

"Not yet," Tifa replied.

"Are we there yet?"

"I said not yet! Don't be cute with me . . ." she mocked.

"Are we . . ."

"Look, don't even ask! We're way way way way way far away from being there, okay!?"

He was silent and after a moment he stopped to rest, panting like an old dog. Tifa patted him on his back. "C'mon, Barret. Pull it together!"

He looked up at her with strained eyes. "Yeah, well all I know is I'm just flesh 'n' blood . . . 'cept for this arm of mine. Don't treat me like I'm some ex-member of SOLDIER or somethin'."

"What about me!? I'm human too!" She started up again. Cloud wasn't even in sight.

Barret, moaning and groaning, started as well. "Yo, what floor is this?"

"I gave up counting around the sixth."

"The sixth floor?" Barret asked. "Were you even trying?"

"Actually I was but I lost my concentration after your first fifty questions . . ."

"Why they gotta build these buildings so damn tall?" He clenched his fist. "Those Shinra . . . they're just no damn good." He started crawling on his hands and knees. Irrationally and hopeless he started mumbling, "I'm gonna die, I'm really gonna die here. Oh, Marlene! Daddy wanted to see your face one more time . . ." He wheezed for air. "I'm gonna die . . ."

Tifa stomped her foot. "Would you stop acting like such an idiot and climb? It's just a bit more . . . I think."

9

After another five minutes they reached the top and saw Cloud standing by a door, a devious smirk on his face. Seeing such a large and powerful man like Barret in this condition was humorous to him, if not slightly uplifting.

Barret slowly stood up. Talking mostly to himself he mumbled, "Fina . . . finally . . . maa . . . ma . . . made it. Never . . . never wanna see . . . no more goddamn stairs the rest of my goddamn life."

It was good to find some humor in their current situation, and Cloud knew that Barret would see it as well once his heart-rate slowed down a bit.

It seemed like they needed to have that light-hearted moment, because it felt like there was nothing good waiting for them beyond the door they were standing in front of.

Still breathing fairly heavily himself, Cloud said, "This is it . . . let's go."

Reaching for the metal handle Cloud slowly opened the door.


	26. 2-3 Fading Hope

3. Fading Hope

1

Aeris Gainsborough awoke to a faint cluster of clicking coming from the other side of the metal wall. As she rubbed at her tired eyes she leaned closer to the wall of her cell and placed her ear on the cold steel.

_I knew I had heard someone else,_ she thought, hearing the patter of noise once again.

She kept her ear against the wall, closing her eyes from the sight of the featureless room around her, in hopes of focusing all of her being on the sounds coming from the cell next to hers.

There was truly nothing to look at anyways; she'd discovered that in the first ten seconds after she'd been placed in the dimly-lit cell. The room was square and metal, and if she jumped she could touch the ceiling with the tip of her fingers. The only feature in the cell – if a feature is what you would call it – was the uncomfortable, thin bed she was now sitting on, her ear still placed on the frigid wall.

When she heard the clicking again, followed by what she imagined was a soft sigh, she knocked lightly on the wall. In a whisper she said, "Hello?" When there was no response she knocked again and raised her voice. "Hello? Is someone there?" When nothing save for the buzzing static from the overheard florescent lights could be heard, she asked, "Are you okay?"

After a minute she removed her ear from the wall and shook her head.

_I'm not going to panic . . ._

She'd known for most of her life that this day might come. She'd known that Shinra wanted her because of her Cetra powers and that her capture was always going to be a possibility.

Not that it made any of this any easier.

_But I saved the little girl,_ she thought, and tried to summon some happiness at the thought. _I'm only here because there was no other choice . . ._

She closed her eyes once again, trying her hardest to speak with her ancestors, trying her hardest to speak with the Planet.

The familiar warm sensation flooded from limb to limb, ironically leaving a trail of gooseflesh in its wake. When the warmth reached her chest however, it abruptly vanished.

She opened her eyes, shocked to find that some of her power was somehow stunted.

Closing her eyes once again she searched for the sensation she needed, and was saddened to find that the feeling was evading her.

She'd known it wasn't going to be easy – at least not as easy as when she spent time in the church in the slums – but she thought that she'd at least be able to pray and feel the fantastic connection between her and the spirit of her ancestors.

Taking a quick breath she was about to close her eyes for another try when she heard footsteps approaching the door to her cell.

She quickly uncrossed her legs and got to her feet, feeling the slightly uncomfortable chill from the sweat forming on the back of her neck.

The door opened.

2

Tseng Stehr checked again to see if anyone was following him as he winded his way down the numerous halls of the 67th floor of the Shinra building. He walked briskly, knowing full-well that he didn't have a whole lot of time.

He didn't think anyone would have stopped him even if he had announced that he was going to go see the Ancient, but for some reason he felt that the whole situation would be better if no one knew.

He rounded the last corner and found himself facing six steel doors. He knew that four were unoccupied, and that the canyon creature was occupying the last cell on the right.

Raising his hand he knocked softly on the door in front of him. When the girl didn't reply he unlocked the door and swiftly stepped inside.

The Ancient was standing beside her bed, a look of obvious concern on her pale face.

"Hello," Tseng said, taking a step towards the girl.

"What do you want?" Aeris replied, taking a step in the opposite direction.

Tseng smiled. "I wanted to apologize for the circumstances of your inevitable capture."

"You wanted to apologize?" Aeris said, a touch of red entering her cheeks, her tone icy.

The leader of the Turks shrugged. "It didn't have to be this way . . . you could've turned yourself in long ago. This mess could've been avoided."

She shook her head. "Oh . . . it would've been that simple?"

Tseng shrugged again. "More or less." He took another step towards her. "You've made a lot of people very angry. Towards the end more than just my life was put on the line. If we hadn't found you in a week . . . I'm afraid I wouldn't have been alive at this point in time."

"They wouldn't have killed you . . ." Aeris said, but the emotion on her face displayed the confusion she was secretly feeling.

Tseng smiled again. "I'm not here to argue with you. I just need you to understand that if you cooperate . . . more lives can be saved."

Aeris cried, "That's not true . . . you all have already killed so many people tonight!"

"People?" Tseng asked. "You call those destructive rebels people? The same rebels who blew up half of this glorious city in their feeble attempt to crush the Shinra?" He laughed and shook his head. "You have a lot of nerve thinking of those vermin . . . as people."

Aeris took a step forward. "That's not you talking . . . that's Shinra himself talking."

"No . . ."

Aeris continued, "You don't need to do this . . . you're not going to save anyone's life this way! That's all a lie!"

Tseng darted forward and quickly grasped Aeris' small hands within his own. When she struggled to free herself he grasped harder.

"Stop," she cried. "You're hurting me . . . stop! Let me go . . . please let me go."

"And then what?" he questioned. "What will I do then?"

Aeris pulled at her hands once again. "What . . .?"

"Don't you get it?" Tseng asked. "Shinra himself would have me murdered if you somehow escaped . . . even if he didn't know that I was the one who helped you."

"But . . ."

Tseng dropped one of her hands and placed his own hand over her mouth, silencing her. "But . . . maybe we could figure something out . . ." He smiled, feeling her warm breath moistening the palm of his hand. "If I helped you escape . . . what would you do for me?"

He waited until the Ancient stopped struggling and then took his hand off of her mouth.

She whimpered, "Tseng . . ."

With his free hand he caressed her trembling arm. "You've grown up to be a beautiful woman, Aeris . . ." He slid his fingernail gently up he forearm, causing her to visibly shake. "You were a pretty girl, and even then I found myself dreaming about you."

"Tseng . . ."

"But with the job and everything going so well for me," he continued, "I told myself that a dream is all it could be. But now . . ." He slowly moved his hand towards her chest.

Struggling violently, Aeris screamed, "Stop! Let me go!"

Tseng wasn't fazed. Still smiling he said, "This could help both of us . . . don't you understand? A dream come true . . ."

"Tseng, let me go . . . I'm just a girl . . ."

He laughed. "Ha! Just a girl!" He looked over her body again. "You are not just a girl . . . you are a gorgeous woman. I could help you escape and then we could run away together." He paused to allow a grin to form on his sweating face. "You and me . . . we could help your race – the race of the Ancients - from becoming nonexistent." He smiled again, and reached a hand for her stomach. "My seed could be here . . . we could keep the species alive!"

As he looked back up to her face he suddenly felt a searing pain erupt through his body. He looked down fast enough to see the Ancient's foot falling from his crotch and had to step back from the girl and take a breath because of the immense pain.

"You bitch!" he screamed. "Don't you understand?"

With tears forming in her eyes, Aeris yelled, "I do understand, Tseng . . . you're a monster!"

Releasing his injured crotch he swung his fist, connecting hard with the Ancient's stomach.

He smiled, seeing the girl's green eyes bulge, hearing the air rapidly exit her lungs.

As she tried to speak he forcefully shoved her against the wall. "Fine!" he said. "If this is the way you want it . . . this is the way you're going to get it." He grabbed a hold of her long hair and forced her to look him in the face. "And you will get it, honey . . . Hojo has some very interesting things planned for you." He dropped her head back to the floor. "I hope the beast rips you apart . . ."

Fixing his disheveled suit he turned around and headed for the exit. Behind him he could hear the Ancient's wheezing breath as she fought to push air into her straining lungs.

Just before he exited the cell he said, "And if you tell anyone that I was here . . . I will find that little girl that you were with earlier . . . and I will ruin her . . ."

He closed the door to the cell and then took a breath before making his way to the elevator.

3

Still on the cold floor of the cell, Aeris held her throbbing stomach and whispered, "Help . . . someone please help me." She heard the faint clicking sound coming from one of the other cells and again whispered, "Help . . ."

But as a low, stern voice finally responded to her plea she was already succumbing to the blackness of sleep, her stomach feeling like an anvil had been dropped on it.


	27. 2-4 Keycards

4. Keycards

1

Silently opening the door, Cloud peaked into the 59th floor. It proved to be a worthwhile sight for there were no guards in the vicinity. Also, just to their left, a water fountain sat against the wall, seemingly glowing.

Elsewhere all that Cloud could see from the door was a long hallway with an apparently endless count of lime-green doors. One of the doors was ajar revealing a small, wooden desk and a wheel-less chair. The room did not contain a window.

Without seeing Barret Cloud knew when the large man had finally peeked through the door from the stairs and spotted the water fountain.

"Water! Thank you!" the gunarmed man shouted, perhaps a little too loudly.

It had been a long time since any of them had truly been thankful for something as plentiful as water. It seemed to be the one natural resource that the Shinra weren't trying to sabotage or make a profit from.

_But they will,_ Cloud thought.

They each took turns hydrating themselves, the water tasting crisp and wonderful.

After drinking their share the team rubbed at their sore legs and found themselves wondering how they were going to get to the next floor.

Before they had a chance to voice their concerns a harsh, grumbling voice cried out, "Intruders!"

Cloud shrugged.

They had made it fifty-nine floors without being noticed . . . that wasn't so bad.

2

Three Shinra guards came at them with terrible force.

Not wanting anyone to hear the gunfire Barret instead clobbered one of the guards with his gunarm. The man let out a moaning grunt and grabbed for his broken face. Barret then raised his immense and booted foot and sent it rocketing into the injured guard's stomach, sending him flailing through the air and then finally into the nearby wall.

To Barret's left Tifa suddenly found herself surrounded. One guard had snatched for her arm while the other made to grab for his sheathed sword. Twisting out of the guard's clutches Tifa spun on the toes of her shoes and kicked the other guard's half-unsheathed sword, sending it back into its holster.

Barret shouted, "Tifa! Get down!"

Without thinking, Tifa dropped and glanced up to see a fist swing over the top of her head. Still squatting she spun and swept the guard off his feet with her strong legs.

Seeing the man go down Barret yelled, "Go for the one with the sword!"

Again Tifa listened to Barret's advice and bounced to her feet before sprinting forward. Just before she reached the startled guard she jumped, rapidly flipping through the air until her left foot inexorably connected with the soldier's face, sending him flaccidly to the tiled floor.

When she knew that the guard was out of the fight Tifa turned around and saw Barret standing on the chest of the only conscious guard left. With a devious grin on his face Barret raised his foot and then stomped the man's masked face, sending a spattered noise like braking glass echoing down the vast hallway.

Stepping away from the downed guard Barret looked past Tifa and balked when he saw Cloud . . . who was still sipping away at the water fountain.

The large man laughed. "Aright, hot shot. Very funny."

Cloud smiled at him. As he started walking towards them he spotted a card lying on the ground near one of the guards. He bent over to pick it up. "What's this?" He picked it up, discovering that it was a keycard to the 60th floor. He stood up, showed it to them, and then causally walked to the elevator. They followed and got in, excited that everything was going well so far. Their luck seemed to be sticking around after all.

As the elevator doors closed, Barret said, "This is the real thing. Don't let your guard down."

Tifa added, "I hope Aeris is all right."

Barret nodded. "Well that woman . . . Elmyra, she said Aeris was an Ancient, right?"

"Yeah," Cloud said.

"You think that's true?"

"She saved my life," Cloud said. "When I fell from the reactor I smashed through the roof of a church that Aeris was in. I would've died if she hadn't been there to heal me. She also helped Tifa and me after our fall into the sewer from Corneo's."

Tifa gasped. "Oh! That's why I felt so rejuvenated all of the sudden! When I saw that monster I thought we were dead . . ."

"A monster?" Barret asked.

Shaking her head, Tifa said, "We'll talk about it later . . ."

"Aeris has a power that I can't even begin to understand," Cloud continued. "So to answer your question, yes, I do believe that Aeris is a real Ancient."

Barret shrugged. "Then I think she'll be all right."

Again the question burned inside of Cloud's head.

_Why now? What do they want Aeris so badly for now?_

When the elevator doors opened they spotted a guard about ten feet away from them sitting upright in a chair. They all simultaneously dropped to the floor, hoping not to be spotted.

The team crawled snake-like out of the elevator and onto the 60th floor. Tifa slowly perched her head up and noticed something rather amusing that only further added to their current streak of luck.

The guard had been asleep the whole time.

3

This floor was much different than the previous. Many of the offices that they could see were much nicer, the desks shiny, the chairs visibly comfy. They each had their own water cooler along with a fairly nice-sized window, allowing a startling view of the city.

The trio stood up and walked cautiously down the hall when they saw four guards coming around the corner. Cloud opened up a door to their left and swiftly ducked in.

Tifa came in next, followed by Barret. When he was out of sight from the soldiers Barret said, "Look at that, all them guards is runnin' around."

Cloud sighed. "Yeah . . . it's no use. No matter what we're gonna have to fight 'em."

"Our luck can only go so far, I suppose," Tifa added.

"Right," Barret said, nodding his head. "Let's get 'em."

Cloud pulled out his sword.

Tifa cracked her knuckles.

Barret smiled.

4

They crouched in the open doorway, inches away from the hall. When Cloud saw one of the guards walk by he took his sword and lunged it outwards and into the foot of the unsuspecting guard. Startled and injured, the guard screamed and fell to the ground, ferociously wincing with incredible pain. The other three soldiers quickly darted back to the injured guard.

Pulling his sword from the guard's foot Cloud sprayed the man's blood onto the first approaching guard.

Tifa and Barret speedily jumped out of the room, surprising the oncoming guards who believed that Cloud had been the only perpetrator.

With a flick of the wrist Cloud's Buster sword was whizzing through the air, slicing deep into the midsection of the approaching guard and throwing him back into one of his comrades.

The guard that was hit squealed as his wrist snapped back and then dropped his sword, giving Tifa the opportunity to attack. While the guard was picking up his weapon she punched him hard, directly on the ear. The deafening pelt brought the man to his knees screaming.

The other two guards were now attacking Cloud and Barret, who were dodging the violently-thrown punches and aggressive kicks coming their way with ease.

"Pesky little bastards, aren't they?" Barret said, a grin on his face even as a fist careened inches away from his sweating head.

Cloud jumped back to avoid a kick to his groin. "They're just trying too hard." He ducked his head under a whirling forearm. "And they're fairly noisy, too."

Looking at his gunarm Barret shrugged his shoulders. "That's true. I'd say we don't hafta worry about the sound of gunfire no more!" He pulled Cloud out of the way and shot the guards, who seconds before they were killed had made a feeble attempt to escape the intruders. The bullets flew in and out of their now-falling bodies and then zoomed out of sight.

Tifa, hearing the gunfire, ran back to the men. "That might have been a bit _too_ noisy, Barret." She looked to Cloud and then back to the gunarmed man. "We've gotta get out of here!"

Before they made their way out of the area Cloud stopped. "Hey, wait!" Bending low he searched one of the battered guards but couldn't find a keycard. "Damn . . ."

"This one's still moving!" Tifa shouted, looking from the trembling man's face to his gory foot.

Barret hovered over the injured guard, stomped his booted foot, and then hollered, "Where's your keycard to the 61st floor!?" The man wallowed in pain, holding his bleeding foot. Barret asked him again. "Yo! Where is it!?" There was no response so Barret said, "Aright, last chance!" When the guard didn't answer Barret placed his gunarm inches away from the man's mouth.

The man closed his eyes, Cloud and Tifa looked away, Barret fired.

5

"We can't just stand here," Tifa said. "We might as well try going up . . ."

Using a new staircase that was down the hall the team climbed to the 61st floor.

"Goddamn . . ." Barret said when they reached the next floor. "I jes can't believe it . . ."

Their lucky streak was apparently staying alive a bit longer as they were now realizing that something was wrong with Shinra's security system for the 61st floor. The doors were wide open, meaning that anyone could access the floor.

The soon saw that the 61st floor was in essence a giant version of an employee lounge. Shinra employees walked or sat around, each taking a breather from the high maintenance duty they endured as a Shinra worker.

There were half a dozen coffee machines, two water coolers, three giant tables, ten sofas, a snack stand, and even a small deli in the back corner next to the huge bay windows. There were also various plants were positioned in what appeared to be random places throughout the spacious floor.

To their utter surprise everyone seemed to assume that they were employees; no one had given them a second glance since they'd entered. They were reassured when they heard a man on a cell phone saying, "What's keeping her? Did she forget her keycard? Even employees can't walk around above the 60th floor without a keycard. You know that!"

Barret laughed. "Haha, they all must assume that we're employees by the simple fact that we're standing here right now. They've probably never even considered that the floors above the 59th could be broken into."

From the bay windows there was an amazing view of Midgar. However it was hardly enjoyable when you saw the lime green and perceptibly scratchy furniture scattered throughout the floor.

"They've always had such bad taste," Tifa commented.

Beside her Cloud and Barret simultaneously rolled their eyes.

A thin-mouthed old man in a white shirt and black pants suddenly rushed Cloud. "Who the hell are you? What're you doin' around here?" Thinking that their cover was blown Cloud started reaching for his sword. The man then smiled and said, "Oh, I see. You must be the whatcha call it . . ." he shook Cloud's frozen hand, "the SOLDIER's that are here in place of the Shinra, Inc. Repair Division people that couldn't make it." The man looked at Tifa. "Although I didn't know that we had started recruiting ladies yet." He winked at Tifa and then gazed around the room.

The team all sighed in relief. "You guessed it . . ." Cloud said, still catching his breath from the momentary scare.

The man continued, "You know, it looks like this building is starting to fall apart. The door to this floor was just pushed open without a keycard only about an hour ago. You oughta fix it right away. Then you can do whatever else they called you over here for."

Cloud nodded. Playing the part he said, "I'll take a look at it right away, sir."

"Sir!" the man said, chuckling. "No, no . . . you don't have to 'sir' me, my friend!" He paused to gather himself. "And take a look at the floor above us too, just in case." He leaned in and whispered, "That's my floor . . . I'll give you this." He handed Cloud a keycard for the 62nd floor, nodded his head, and walked away, winking once more at Tifa before he joined up with a few other Shinra employees who were relaxing on the lime-green couches.

Tifa almost laughed out loud. "That was too easy."

Barret chuckled to himself. "I always knew that the Shinra were really goddamn stupid . . . but I never imagined that they were _this_ stupid."

With the keycard in hand the team casually walked back to the stairs, waving and nodding their heads at the relaxing employees, silently mocking them as they exited.

6

As they reached the door to the 62nd floor it was, unlike the door below it, locked. They waved the keycard in front of the scanner to the door's right. With a 'bing' it opened and revealed to them the Mayor's Floor. A boring and dull room, it lacked the usual spunk of horrid hues that Shinra was normally associated with.

They walked across the gray carpet in between two large bookshelves. At the end of the carpet and bookshelves stood a small and cramped office. The door was closed and standing outside of it was a man with an unnecessarily large hat.

He greeted the team with a smile, an unusual gesture from a Shinra employee. "How do you do? This is the Midgar Mayor's Office. Mayor Lucian Domino is in his office behind me. I'm Deputy Mayor Hart."

Cloud nodded his head, unsure of how to respond to the generous greeting. Hart opened the door and signaled for them to go inside.

Mayor Domino, who looked as if he was about to die from an extreme case of boredom, sat at his unorganized desk stroking his long white beard. He looked to be in his late seventies, his long gray moustache matching the tone of the remaining gray hairs he had left on his wrinkled and freckled head.

When he saw the team enter he immediately recognized who they were. He stood up from his desk and said, "You all must be that AVALANCHE group, hmm?" He made no effort to call for help. "I'm Domino, Mayor of Midgar. Actually, I'm Mayor in name only. The city and everything in it is really run by Shinra, Inc. as I'm sure you already know."

Tifa looked at Barret, and then at Cloud, not sure if they were caught, not sure what was going on at all.

The old man continued, "My only real job is watching over Shinra's documents." He threw his pale hands into the air. "Me! The Mayor! A librarian!" He squinted at them. "I presume you want to get upstairs . . . and that you'll kill me if you have too."

Cloud reached for his sword and glanced around the small office, wondering now if an attack was coming.

With fear in his eyes the old man shook his head. "I'll tell ya what. Enough chit-chat. How 'bout I just give you the Keycard to the 65th floor and keep my mouth shut? It'll save you the time and trouble that it would take to kill me and the poor Deputy."

Having heard his title, Deputy Hart leaned into the office. "Yes, sir?"

Domino shook his head. "Nothing, Hart . . ."

Barret glared at the Mayor. "What about the other two floors? This is the 62nd, and you said you'd give us a card to the 65th." He tauntingly swayed his gunarm back and forth.

"Well, contrary to popular belief, those floors are always open. The 63rd is just more of the documents that I am supposed to watch over and the 64th is one large employee fitness room."

Cloud looked at him questioningly, wondering why he would be giving them all of this information. "Is this a trick?"

The old man gave him a gentle smile. "You're wondering why I would do something like this."

"Yes," Cloud replied matter-of-factly. He lowered his sword.

The old man continued, "Well . . . to be blunt about it . . . to mess with them. Shinra's been torturing me forever. Hell, I'd give you the keycards to all the other floors too but I'm sorry to say that I don't have access to them myself." He smiled, pleased with himself. "Now go up there and really make them suffer! That ought to make us even! Heh heh heh. They'll wish they never made me a librarian after tonight . . ."

The team took the keycard from him. Baffled and still unsure what to expect on the floors above them they silently left the office and then made their way back to the stairway.

7

After climbing the stairs they took a quick peek into the 63rd floor. Like the man had said, it was filled with documents of all shapes and sizes. Opposed to just the two bookshelves on the 62nd, this floor was stuffed with documents.

Barret laughed. "I really just can't believe how easy this has been. Would have done this a while ago if I had known. Haha!"

They started up to the 64th floor, and as Cloud started to go past it and to the 65th Barret stopped and said, "As long as we know this is a gym or whatever let's stop and get something to drink. I'm dyin'. No end to these goddamn stairs tonight . . ."

They entered the fitness area, Cloud leading the way as he was wearing a SOLDIER uniform.

A robust man was holding his belly, standing a few feet away from a nearby treadmill. A tall, built man next to him was boasting about how fit he was. "Yeah, I know I'm in good shape. Since I'm head of security for this building stamina is very important to me." Barret would've exploded in laughter if he hadn't seen the vending machine to his left.

8

After relaxing for a minute or two, Tifa came back to Cloud and Barret, who were lying down on a pair of exercise mats, both discussing how effortless this all had been so far. They just hoped getting to Aeris would also be just as easy.

"Guys, we gotta go," Tifa whispered, bending down to them and holding something firmly in her hand.

They left the treadmill-filled room and walked out onto the stairs again. Tifa held up a shiny keycard. "It's the keycard to the 66th floor . . . I figured that we'd need it eventually anyways."

Stunned and smiling, Barret asked, "Where'd you get it?"

"One of the employees was sleeping on a mat across the room. It was lying there next to his hand in plain sight."

Barret almost shouted with joy. "Damn . . . I love ya, girl!"

Tifa's thievery proved to be beneficial as well because they found nothing of importance on the 65th floor. There was a large map of Midgar, and what appeared to be a plethora of detailed plans pertaining to the sprawling metropolis.

A giant sign hanging over the map read:

**Neo-Midgar**

However, there was no time to investigate this foreboding and seemingly unimportant label. They had the next keycard and that was all that mattered.

"Neo-Midgar," Cloud whispered. "I wonder what that's about . . ."

Barret shrugged. "Who cares!"

Cloud nodded. "Right . . . let's go!"

_Neo-Midgar,_ he thought, and then shook the words from his head.


	28. 2-5 The Legacy

5. The Legacy

1

Rufus Shinra stood alone on the top of the skyscraping hotel he had been staying at, having elected not to room at one of the suites located inside of the Shinra Headquarters. He had sent his bodyguards away because he always did his best thinking when he was alone.

_Besides,_ he thought, looking at his slightly swollen knuckles, _they have other business to attend to._

He smiled, knowing that the other business had involved sneaking the dead slum-girl out of his room and then out of the hotel itself.

His fingers throbbed with a percussive yet endearing pain, and he basked in the glowing high it gave him.

Felix, his father, had been right. There were countless women and girls in the slums willing to do anything for some gil, including becoming his slave for the night within his lofty hotel suite.

The throb in his groin returned momentarily as he recalled the actions that had taken place just hours ago.

_Oh, that one suffered . . ._

The woman had been older than his usual prey, possibly in her late thirties or early forties. She'd been more than willing to do as he pleased, and for a few hours, Rufus took advantage of the woman's sexual knowledge.

He remembered at first being amazed at her carnal desire and general astounding performance, but then had come to the realization that sex was free, and was probably practiced in places like the slums more than anywhere else.

_Most slum women were probably good at it,_ he'd thought.

She'd been willing to experiment – and had impressed Rufus with the angles she could achieve – but when the president's son pulled out a pair of scissors, the woman had begun to shake her sweating head.

He'd only cut her naked form enough to force a few ear-piercing and lovely screams from her mouth, because more than anything else he enjoyed using his fists to cause pain.

And perhaps he did get carried away as the guards had said, slamming the woman's face hard enough to send the smashed whites of her eyes into the back of her bleeding head, but what was life if you couldn't have a little bit of fun?

He wouldn't even have hit her so hard if she hadn't bit him, her tooth scraping along the inside of his left forearm.

After that he'd appropriately lost control, punching her face until his own breathing was ragged, before he ultimately placed the long pair of scissors into the woman's gurgling throat.

She'd made a bit of a mess, but that's what room service was for.

His thoughts were brought back to the present when the sound of an approaching helicopter caught his ears.

"It's about time . . ." he said, the air around him swirling from the swiftly-moving blades of the looming chopper.

2

Now on the helicopter and travelling towards the Shinra building, his two bodyguards back at his side, Rufus felt a conundrum plaguing his pacing mind.

For a long time he had thought of nothing else save for his anger and his desire to end his father's life.

But now, everything had changed.

Out of the blue Felix had contacted him, had given him a half-hearted - if reluctant - apology, and had informed him that one of the Shinra's Gelnika military airships was coming to Costa del Sol to pick him up.

_To 'retrieve me' he had said._

At the time Rufus had been speechless, and most of his mind was telling him to stay where he was, to not go back overseas to the floating city.

But over the next few minutes an elaborate plan had begun to take shape inside of his mind.

He would fly back to Midgar, and when he arrived . . . he would kill his father. He would kill the President of Shinra, Inc.

He understood that by doing so he would be dooming his chances of ever taking over the company, but at the time he didn't care, and only felt the persistent longing to pulverize his father's fat face.

The helicopter suddenly dropped a few feet of altitude, jerkily shifting the passengers.

"Hey!" Rufus yelled. "Pay attention you goddamn idiot!"

Shaking his head he continued to plod on the circumstances that had brought him to where he currently was.

He had been sitting in the restaurant, having arrived in Midgar only an hour hence, and was having a bit of fun with the young waitress.

_Shooting the shit,_ he thought, remembering how much he had loved hearing that choice of slum-slang for the first time.

The waitress was just going to be an unexpected warm-up, something to keep his racing mind on track. When his father arrived he was going to murder the old man, he was going to make him suffer.

But when his father had arrived he had acted . . . well, not exactly warmly to his only son, but certainly not as cold as the previous times they had spoken.

_He'd seemed genuinely happy . . ._

Felix had then gone on to tell him that he wanted Rufus to begin 'learning the ropes' of the company, because a time of great change was coming.

With the sudden prospect of owning Shinra, Inc. Rufus had secretly become unraveled, losing any murderous thoughts that were swimming through the conniving mind that sat under his red hair.

But now as he was sped along in the chopper, heading for the Shinra building, those same scheming thoughts were creeping back into his head.

He allowed himself a small grin.

_If I could get away with it . . . without anyone knowing that it was me . . . it would still be nice to kill the old bastard._

He shifted in his seat and looked at the others in the helicopter, as if they could somehow read his mind.

A rush of warmth flooded his tall body, a physical eagerness at the thought of killing his old man and becoming the new President of Shinra, Inc.

He grinned again, almost tasting the power he could potentially have if he controlled the Shinra legacy.

_It might take some skill,_ he thought, noticing that they were only minutes away from descending onto the helipad that sat on the Shinra building's roof. _But it would be worth it. It would definitely be worth it . . ._

The helicopter began its decent.


	29. 2-6 Hojo's Specimens

6. Hojo's Specimens

1

Even as she walked through the 65th floor, and listened to Cloud say something about Neo-Midgar, Tifa felt her mind start to wander.

And although it strayed from the team's present task, it still focused on a certain member of the team.

_Cloud . . ._

He seemed fine now, she hadn't seen him make a grab for his head in some time, and he hadn't shown any of the signs that had concerned her in the first place.

_But at some point it has to be addressed . . ._

She nodded, agreeing with herself.

_When we're out of here,_ she thought, _with Aeris . . . I'll make Cloud explain what happened before we ran into each other at the train station._

In front of her the subject of her questioning mind opened the door to the stairway with a look on his face that she couldn't quite puzzle out.

2

As the trio went back out onto the stairs a secretary, carrying what appeared to be her own equal weight in files, walked past them. She smiled and said, "Going to the 66th?"

Cloud returned the smile and said, "Yep."

As they walked up the stairs and through the door she said, "Wow, I'm sick of carrying all these files." She winked at Cloud as she walked away. "But I get to meet a lot of guys. I guess that's the benefit of being a secretary."

This floor appeared to be very active. People were running back and forth doing various odds and ends, minding their own business. The hallway went around the outside of this floor, with the offices against the edge of the building. Everything surrounded the commodious room in the center of the floor.

A man walked by the group plugging his nose. "Is it just me or does the Conference Room still smell? There's some sort of stench coming from somewhere and no one has ever bothered to try and fix it."

"I've heard about the smell before, too," Cloud said to the man. "And I'm not normally stationed within the headquarters."

The employee nodded. "Well, of course not. None of the SOLDIER divisions are stationed here." The man grabbed again for his nose and vacated the area.

Barret and Tifa followed Cloud around the floor, looking into each room as they passed by. In one of the rooms they overheard a man say, "They're having another executive meeting. I wonder if it's about the plate incident."

This comment seemed to explain all of the commotion that currently existed on the 66th floor.

Cloud whispered to Barret and Tifa, "I think I have an idea."

They walked around the floor for another few minutes before Cloud spotted what he was looking for.

Just down the hall they encountered a bathroom. "A-ha!" Cloud said, almost too loud. Barret looked at him, confused. Cloud explained, "I wasn't lying when I said I had heard about the smell before. It's kind of a running joke at this point. 'The Smell in the Conference Room'. I had even heard about it back when I really was in SOLDIER. If the big shots are having a meeting right now, we might be able to spy on them."

"And how we gonna do that?" Barret questioned.

"Well, a few people around here have complained about a smell still being in the Conference Room. When I was back training in SOLDIER we had a similar problem. One of the air ducts was connected to a sewage dump outside and the smell went straight into our rooms. It was all the result of a simple engineering mistake."

Barret asked, "And you think that same mistake happened here too?" He looked at Cloud, perceptibly skeptical.

Unaffected by the large man's gaze, Cloud replied, "That's exactly what I think is happening here. Who knows? Maybe a lot of the Shinra-built buildings were designed by the same engineers."

Tifa gasped. "So maybe the smell in the Conference Room is coming from an air duct that leads to this bathroom!"

"Exactly."

Barret grinned and looked up at the ceiling. Sure enough there was a duct over one of the stalls. He shrugged. "Well, it's worth a shot. Maybe then we can find out just what the hell's going on."

Tifa stood outside the bathroom, making sure no one was in sight. Barret unhinged the metal grate covering the duct. Cloud climbed up and whispered, "It's a lot bigger than the duct over at the reactors, although the stench is no better."

Barret smirked and shook his head. He hoisted Tifa up, and then climbed up himself, the darkened space still seeming too small for his massive frame.

3

Cloud had been right. After a short crawl they were exactly where they wanted to be.

Directly over the Conference Room they gazed at the top executives of Shinra, Inc. The meeting was about to begin.

The three of them arranged themselves so that they all could see the square room below. Barret, still looking down into the room, whispered, "Damn, that's a lotta suits."

President Shinra, along with all of the others who were present, sat down.

The meeting began.

4

At the head of the long table President Shinra sat at his throne amongst all of his loyal servants.

To his right was Alrik Heideggar, who was chuckling to himself. He represented Shinra's military force.

Beside him a woman in a red dress puffed away at a cigarette. A slender and sexy woman, Ariel Scarlet was a deceiving vixen. She represented the Weapon's Department and knew her stuff, a vicious and tough broad.

Directly across from her, Reeve Tuesti, who represented the Urban Development Section, slouched in his chair. His hair wasn't combed as usual and his navy-blue suit didn't look as sharp as he normally kept it.

On the other side of the President sat a man equally proportioned in size, although a tad shorter. The tiny fat man named Martin Palmer, who represented the Space Department, stuffed his face with a large, greasy chocolate bar. While intelligent in some aspects, the beefy man was childish in the same ways as Heideggar, although not nearly as aggressive.

With the meeting in session Reeve addressed the President, and then announced, "We have the damage estimates for Sector 7." Heideggar rolled his eyes. Reeve ignored the ploy and continued, "Considering all the factories we had already set up and the investments we had made, the damage is estimated at approximately ten billion gil." Palmer spit out a mouthful of chocolate in exaggerated surprise. With a disgusted face Reeve sneered at Palmer. "The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is . . ."

The President interrupted him with a calm wave of his hand. "Reeve . . . we're not rebuilding."

Shocked, Reeve yelled, "What?"

Heideggar yelled, "Get your ears fixed, pizza-face."

Reeve clenched his fists. "Don't start with me, fat man. Not today." Reeve looked back at the President. "Sir . . ."

"We're leaving Sector 7 as it is, and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan," Felix Shinra said, coolly.

Reeve looked at him, intensely baffled. ". . . Then the Ancients?"

"The Promised Land will soon be ours." The President gazed around at all of the faces. "I want you to raise the Mako rates fifteen percent in every area."

Palmer jumped up and down, causing his balding head to reflect various amounts of light. Mouth still half full he mumbled, "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!"

Looking away from Palmer and to the other side of the table the President said, "Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase."

"Oh, man!" Palmer sat down and restarted his consumption of chocolate. He was now on his second bar.

Standing up from his chair, Reeve said, "Sir, if you raise the rates, the citizens will lose confidence."

Signaling him to sit down the President said calmly, "It'll be all right. The ignorant _citizens_ won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more."

Heideggar saw Reeve's bewildered face and began convulsing with animated laughter. "Ha, ha, ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!"

The group turned towards the back of the room when they heard the wooden door creak open.

A man in a white lab coat entered the foul-smelling room. He walked slow and slightly hunched, and didn't receive a greeting from any of the board members – he wasn't expecting any such trivialities.

President Shinra glanced at the newcomer and asked, "Hojo, how's the girl?"

In his early fifties and with almost no color on his skin whatsoever, Hojo was seemingly the definition of a dedicated employee, but was even more dedicated to Science itself. Everything and anything would be done if it proved useful in the name of Science.

Hojo glanced up at the executives from behind his wire-rimmed spectacles. "As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to Ifalna, but for now the experimental difference is averaging at around eighteen percent."

Unsure what Hojo meant – something Felix was learning to deal with on the occasions he talked to the scientist - the President blatantly asked, "How long will the research take?"

Hojo shyly grinned, and then shrugged. "Probably a hundred and twenty years. It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime . . . or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter." He turned away from the table. "That's why I stressed to you earlier this week how important it was to capture her now." He paused. "We're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create a specimen that would withstand our research for a very long time." He smiled quirkily. Apparently to himself he whispered, "A very long time, indeed . . ."

Nodding, and somewhat reluctantly putting his full trust into Hojo once again, President Shinra stood up and announced, "That concludes our meeting."

Without another word they all left the Conference Room, one after another. All of their faces were displaying a diverse yet unique quality of mystification.

Last to leave the Conference Room was Scarlet, who was applying a blood-red shade of lipstick to the ring around her mouth. Just before she walked out she sniffed the air and whined, "Something stinks . . ."

5

Lying down in the odorous vent, Cloud, although knowing the answer to his own question, asked, "They were talking about Aeris . . . right?"

Reluctantly, Tifa said, "Probably."

Barret said, "Let's follow 'em."

As they crawled back towards the bathroom Cloud whispered, "Hojo . . ."

6

In a minute the trio was out of the bathroom and stealthily following the scientist around the floor. Waiting around the corner of each hall they followed Hojo and realized that he was making his way to the stairway. Still unaware that he was being followed, the black-haired man exited onto the stairs and walked up to the 67th floor.

The team followed.

Knowing that they didn't have a keycard to this floor they got as close to him as they could, each of them holding their breaths, and when he scanned his card and entered through the door they all ran through as well, making the least amount of noise as possible – and for Barret, this was a particularly tricky task.

While the team cautiously followed Hojo around the 67th floor Cloud realized that the burning question in his mind had finally been answered. "They plan on 'breeding' her," he whispered.

Tifa nodded, a queasy look on her face. "I'm not even sure what that means . . ."

Barret asked, "Do you think they found another Ancient . . . to, ya know . . . breed her with?" The words felt sick coming out of his mouth.

"No," Cloud said, shaking his head. "Aeris is the last, we know that much."

Tifa sighed. "Either way they were talking about her like she wasn't human . . . like she was just some freak specimen."

Grabbing her hand, Cloud said, "Don't worry, Tifa. We'll find her." He knew that she still felt somewhat guilty about Aeris' capture by the Shinra. He repeated, "We'll find her."

Random machines and experiments filled the 67th floor. Everywhere they looked something was flashing or beeping. Some of the machines were continuously moving, automatically performing whatever tasks they had been assigned to.

It appeared that this was where all of the scientific activities were held. From what they had heard, this was probably where they had the best chance of finding Aeris.

While slowly tip-toeing down the hallway Barret whispered, "I remember him . . . that Hojo guy, he's been on the Shinra TV every once and a while. He's in charge of the Chemistry Division . . . ya know, the Science Department. Cloud, don't you know him?"

For the first time in quite a while Cloud felt a small twinge of pain in his head. Ignoring it and still looking around he whispered back, "This is the first time I've actually ever seen him. I had no idea what he looked like. I've only heard stories . . . crazy stories."

7

At the end of the hall the team reached the laboratory. They huddled behind a few piles of boxes. Ahead of them, imprisoned in a large glass tube, they saw a fiery red, lion-like creature about two and a half feet in height. It paced back and forth in the tube before sitting apathetically at the edge of the container.

Behind them the trio heard voices coming their way. They quickly ducked out of sight behind a few of the scattered crates just as Hojo and another scientist walked casually up to the glass tube and stared at the red beast.

Cloud vaguely remembered learning about the creatures of Cosmo Canyon but wasn't sure if the specimen in front of him was part of that species. He thought he'd heard that all of the canyon creatures were already extinct.

The man standing next to Hojo pointed at the red creature. "Is this today's specimen?"

Grimly, Hojo answered, "Yes. We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level." The man nodded and walked away. Hojo placed his hand on the thick glass and gazed at the scarlet, lion-like animal. "My precious specimen . . ." he said, true affection in his tone. He stood by the tube for a few more seconds and then walked away.

8

Tifa, sorrow filling her large, russet eyes, whispered, "Precious specimen? Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

Although listening, Cloud was suddenly attracted to a metal dome a few feet across the way. Almost igloo in structure, it had one door and a tiny window at the very top. A purple light shone out of it onto Cloud's tensing face.

Looking at the writing on the dome he slowly said aloud, "Jenova . . ." He peered through the window and saw what he feared he would see. "It can't be . . ." A strange and alien being that's frozen skin consisted of blues and purples sat inside of the dome. Six arms hung lifeless at its sides which surrounded its hideous mud-black breeding organs. Oozing in slime, repulsive, and grotesque, this almost-female resembling thing sat in the dome ostensibly staring at him, breathing at him. However there were no eyes to stare for the sheer fact that it looked as if the thing had had its head ripped off . . . and rather violently.

Closing his eyes Cloud slowly backed away. A high-pitched whine reverberated through his head. Clutching his ringing skull and doddering back and forth he fell to the cold floor in agony. Louder than he should have he screamed, "Jenova . . . Sephiroth's . . . Sephiroth's mother . . . so they've brought it here . . ."

Tifa and Barret, eyes wide, ran to him. Tifa grabbed his hand and pretended she hadn't heard that horribly evil name from her past. "Cloud, be strong!" She looked at Barret who was equally as confused and frightened.

"Did you see it?" Cloud mumbled as the dominant buzzing in his head began to subside.

Barret asked, "See what?"

"It's moving . . . still alive?" He pointed towards the dome, his fingers visibly trembling.

Barret walked over to the window and looked through. "Whoa!" He stepped back. "Where's its goddamn head?" He ran to Cloud, shaking his head as if he was trying to tell himself that he hadn't seen what he had just seen.

"Barret . . ." Cloud began.

Shaking his head still, the large man said, "No Cloud, jes stop it! I know this must all be really confusing right now, especially if you know what the hell that goddamn thing is, but we gotta get going. Aeris is running outta time!" He offered Cloud his large, brown hand.

Cloud took it and got to his feet. The ringing in his head had now completely dissipated. He nodded his head and agreed. "You're right, let's go."

Beside him Cloud saw Tifa give him yet another look that he couldn't quite puzzle out, something she'd been doing a lot lately.

_Is she scared?_ he thought, and then remembered the bluish-purple form of Jenova's frozen figure and shuddered. _Maybe she should be . . ._

As he ran alongside Barret and Tifa he couldn't help but constantly wonder about that grotesque and horrifying body.

_So many questions . . . I don't have time to figure anything out._

He shook the icy form from his mind.

9

Running past the glass tube and down the way they had seen Hojo go, the team found another flight of stairs. Running up the concrete steps the trio was thankful that the door at the top was partially open and didn't require a keycard.

More advanced then the equipment on the 67th floor, this floor looked even more like a research lab. Highly advanced machines moved around the room serving out their designed functions.

A glass tube sat in the center, a replica of the tube they had seen one floor below them. However, sitting on the floor in the center of this container was Aeris.

The team ran to the outside of the glass. Overjoyed that they had found her, Cloud yelled, "Aeris!"

Aeris placed her hands on the tube, screaming something that they couldn't hear through the thick glass.

Hojo was standing behind them near a control device, a perplexed look on his pallid face. "Aeris? Oh, is that her name?" He looked them each over. "What do you want?"

"We're taking Aeris back."

The scientist rolled his eyes. "Outsiders . . ." Aeris continued to scream inside of the glass tube. Dried tears covered her cheeks. Hojo continued unperturbed, "There are so many frivolous things on the Planet."

Cloud took out his sword and walked to Hojo. Barret stood beside him pointing his gunarm at Hojo's chest.

Hojo, showing no concern, questioned, "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it?"

Cloud looked back at Aeris, trapped in a cage. "Ugh!" he yelled, lowering his sword. He didn't want to have made it this far only to have Aeris stuck in some specimen enclosure.

"That's right," Hojo said with a grin. "I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves." He shouted up to the other scientists above him. "Now, bring in the specimen!"

The red creature from the 67th floor was suddenly lifted into the tube with Aeris. The team ran to the tube trying to find a way in. Aeris' ear-piercing screams could now be heard even through the thick glass tube. The beast twitched its tail and looked at her, its lips peeled back to display its sharp teeth.

Suddenly it all made sense.

_They plan on breeding her with that thing?_

Screaming and banging on the glass, Aeris mouthed, "Help! Help!"

Cloud turned around and looked at Hojo, anger filling his eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Still very calm and collected Hojo replied, "Lending a helping hand to two endangered species. Both of them are on the brink of extinction. If I don't help, both of these animals will disappear."

Frustrated, Cloud lifted his sword again, intending to swing at Hojo. He looked back at Aeris and sighed before lowering his weapon. "Damn . . ."

Tifa screamed, "Aeris is a human being!" Next to her Barret was repeatedly pounding on the glass, trying to break through.

Cloud looked at Barret with desperation on his face. "Barret, do something! Please!" He was now past the point of worrying about Aeris being stuck in the glass prison.

"Aeris, get down!" Barret yelled as he pointed his gunarm at the tube. "Everyone step back!" Everyone except Hojo shielded their eyes.

The black-haired scientist cried, "Stop! No!"

Barret opened fire on the glass, shattering it instantaneously. A brilliant glow of white light immersed the room.

Hojo ran past the group and towards the tube. "What did you do!? My precious specimens . . ."

The light faded quickly. Everyone was startled when the red creature leaped out and in the direction of Hojo. Growling and snarling it pounced on his chest, bringing him to the solid ground.

Cloud ran into the tube and helped Aeris up from the glass-strewn floor. She moaned while standing but still managed a smile. "Thanks, Cloud."

They ran out of the tube just as it started to glow a dull blue. Cloud turned around and looked at it.

Tifa asked, "Cloud, what's wrong?"

Cloud took a step back and said, "The elevator is moving. We aren't out of this yet . . ."

Hojo crawled out from under the red creature when its attention had focused on the elevator within the tube. Breathing heavily he said, "Haha, so true! What's coming is no ordinary specimen . . . it is a very ferocious specimen!"

The red beast turned around and shocked them all. Taking a few steps away from Hojo it _said_, "The 'specimen' coming up the tube is rather strong. I'll help you all out."

Cloud gasped.

_I must be losing my mind . . ._

Tifa froze in place. "It talked!?"

_Oh, good . . . they all heard it,_ Cloud thought, and in half of a second he realized that the lion-like beast in front of him must have been one of the infamous canyon creatures.

Out of the team's eyesight Hojo slyly ducked away and ran for the door.

Wagging its fire-red tail the creature responded, "I'll talk as much as you want later, but now is not the time." Its massive red-brown eyes stared with sincerity and control.

Cloud, shocked and astonished that he was watching the lion-like thing talk, tried hard to focus on the situation. "Okay, right . . . what matters now is Aeris' safety." He looked over the team. "We have to take care of the 'specimens' or whatever the hell is coming up that tube. But someone's gotta take Aeris somewhere safe. She's been through enough." He looked at his childhood friend. "Tifa, I'm countin' on you!"

Tifa nodded and hastily grabbed Aeris' arm. They ran out of the research room, occasionally looking over their shoulders back at the red beast.

10

Cloud cleared his throat and looked at the creature. "Um, what's your name?"

Grimly it said, "Hojo has named me Red 13, a name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me that if you wish."

A green mess of body parts and substance came into sight from the shattered remains of the tube.

Without wasting a second Red 13 roared and jumped at the throbbing mass of pulsing matter.

The thing's many arms and other body structures swung at the lion, trying to avoid being bitten.

With amazing speed and agility Red 13 dodged the enemy. It was so breathtaking to watch that Cloud almost forgot to pull out his sword.

Barret carefully waited for Red 13 to get out of the way before he fired at the specimen. After a half dozen rounds contacted the thing its gooey mass of a body tipped over like a wave that has just broken apart on a rocky shore.

Cloud took this opportunity to rush in with his sword held high, slashing away at the oozing frame of the emerald monster.

As he made to raise his sword over his head again Cloud lost his footing on one of the puddles of slime pouring out from the underside of the beast and hit the floor.

The canyon creature quickly jumped to his side, blocking a potentially harmful blow from the pulsing specimen.

As Cloud made to stand a vine-like tentacle propelled out from the specimen and hit the ex-SOLDIER in the chest. Again Red 13 jumped up into the air and knocked the oozing appendage away.

A blood-curdling roar erupted from the monster as Barret began firing once again, ripping its rubbery flesh and sending dark liquid all over the floor.

Red 13 panted and walked to the side of the room, trying to find a place to get some air. The specimen, still screeching from the impacting bullets, used one of its many oozing arms and swiped the red beast out from under its feet.

Cloud heard Barret stop firing and looked over to see that Barret's gunarm was currently empty.

With a powerful holler of his own Cloud raced towards the specimen before quickly spinning on his heels and launching his giant Buster sword at the monster. The blade connected and tore a generous amount of throbbing flesh from the beast.

Barret was beginning to reload his gunarm when he saw Red 13 go down again, another tentacle was yanking at the red creatures legs. Barret charged at the green enemy and frantically ripped away at its skin.

With shrill screams of terror the specimen moved its focus from Red 13 to Barret. Pooling up in a thick mass it engulfed Barret, suffocating him.

Cloud looked around the area for something to fight with, his sword out of reach beyond the specimen. It was directly above the throbbing creature where Cloud saw a corded pile of electrical wires.

His quickly devised plan wouldn't work however, because Barret was still trapped inside the monster.

"Damn," Cloud said, and began running towards it anyways, running out of ideas fast.

Luckily Red 13 jumped at the specimen a second later and ripped its tentacle soaked skin away from one side of its pulsing form, leaving Barret a hole to jump out of.

Seeing Barret out of the specimen, Cloud finished his run and leaped into the air. The room darkened for an instant as he ripped the wires from the ceiling, a strange tingling feeling rapidly consuming his hands.

Ignoring the pain he drove the sparking wires into the specimens oozing body, releasing a shocking display of blue electrical bolts inside and outside of the squirming mass. The glare from each of the bolts darkened the outside of the lab.

The cancerous shriek of the specimen died out almost immediately as the electricity pierced its trembling body. The mix of bloody puss and liquid tissue gradually crumbled and flowed into a large pile of vomit on the floor of the lab.

Cloud stared with amazement at Red 13, relieved that they had all made it out of the battle alive.

He knew that both he and Barret most likely owed their lives to their new, fiery companion.

_You're some fighter,_ he thought.

Barret stood up and said, "Goddamn . . ." He was shiny and glimmering from the greenish ooze that had stuck to him while he was inside of the ferocious specimen.

11

"Aeris, Tifa . . . it's safe now," Cloud yelled, staring at the pile of substance on the ground.

After a minute the girls quickly ran back, pleased to see everyone still alive.

Cloud smiled at Aeris and asked, "Are you all right?"

Tifa snarled and stared at Red 13 in anger. "She seems to be all right . . . in many ways. Thankfully we got her away from you."

Red 13's eyes thinned. Very intelligently it said, "I have a right to choose, too. I don't like two-legged things . . . that way . . ."

Cloud started to notice that whatever Red 13 was, it was a male of its species. The voice and apparent attitude it gave off suggested he was not a female.

Barret looked at Red 13. "Besides a damn powerful fighter . . . what are you?"

The creature looked back at Barret. "An informed question . . . but difficult to answer. I am what you see." They each looked over his lion-like body and the redness of his coat and mane. The furry end of his tail seemed to glow with the intensity of the sun. "You must have many questions, but first, let's get out of here. I know the way."

The room was silent, save for the soft bubbling noise coming from the pile of ooze.

They had rescued Aeris. Everything was finally back to normal and they could now be on their way.

Walking over to Cloud, Aeris said, "Cloud . . . so you did come for me."

Red 13 leaped over the railing that was separating him from Aeris. He bowed his head and said, "I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard."

Aeris looked down at him and smiled. "It's okay . . . and thank you. You saved me as well." She bent down and stroked his mane.

"Now we've saved Aeris," Barret yelled, breaking up all of the side conversations. "Ain't no need to be in this damn building! Let's get the hell outta here!"

Cloud looked around the uncanny room and then back at the team. "If all five of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up into two groups."

"That sounds like a great plan . . ."

The team turned around and saw four people behind them.

Two of the men were Turks while the other two were SOLDIER's, their uniforms not identical to Cloud's own, but still quite similar.

"Damn," Barret said, raising his gunarm.

Tseng, one of the Turks in front of the team, laughed and said, "You and I both know that your disgusting excuse of an arm is empty."

Barret sighed and lowered the gunarm.

Behind the team and on both sides a score of guards suddenly appeared.

"Rude," Tseng said, holding out his hand to the Turk beside him. "Give me your gun."

Without a word, the Turk beside him handed Tseng the weapon.

Pointing the acquired gun directly at Aeris' face, Tseng said, "How about a nice trip to the elevator . . . for all of you . . . except the Ancient."

"What are you going to . . ." Tifa began, when a shot was fired from the gun, silencing her. The bullet whizzed mere inches away from Aeris' face, causing her as well as the others to scream.

"It's funny," Tseng said, his face the exact opposite of his statement. "I don't remember telling any of you that you had a choice in the matter."

12

Sinisterly, the bald and gruff looking Turk, appropriately named Rude, looked at Barret and said, "Would you push 'Up' please?"

They had walked the short distance to the elevator and had all crammed inside, the team's emotions displayed on their tired and anguished faces.

"Turks," Cloud said, as he watched Aeris taken off the elevator onto another floor by another suited man. "Must have been a trap . . ."

The leader of the Turks, Tseng Stehr, who had previously encountered the team when he had captured Aeris during the pillar fiasco, slowly turned around to face the captured rebels. After smiling at each of them he looked at Cloud bleakly and said, "It must have been a real thrill for you. Did you enjoy it?"

Cloud allowed himself a quick smile and then spit at the Turk. With lightning fast reflexes Tseng fisted Cloud in the stomach, forcing him to gasp for air. A thin smile emerged under Tseng's thin eyes.

The elevator continued to rise.


	30. 2-7 Father and Son

7. Father and Son

1

Felix Shinra's emotions had taken quite the ride during the long day.

He'd been plagued by the meddlesome rebels, had then taken care of the rebels with the destruction of Sector 7, and then had yet again found that the same supposedly-dead rebels were alive and well.

Of course, he'd accomplished much towards his goals concerning Neo-Midgar, but how was one suppose to enjoy themselves when scores of vermin were always racing around their feet?

He'd done well though, controlling his emotions so that he'd only felt a slow burn on the inside of his tired body.

After the meeting in the foul-smelling Conference Room, he'd been informed that something was happening on Hojo's floor. He'd channeled into the security system to find that all of the interfering rebels that he'd been told were dead were very much alive.

_And not only that. They'd also freed the Ancient._

Thankfully Hojo or one of the other scientists had been smart enough to summon one of the lab's specimens.

_That at least kept the vermin busy for a bit . . ._

Yet even while he watched the vermin battling against the oozing specimen – with the help of the canyon creature – Shinra had made a call to Tseng, ordering that he and another Turk should take a couple of SOLDIER's and head down to the lab, just in case the specimen couldn't get the job done.

_Which it didn't._

But thankfully Tseng had done his job, and now the vermin were trapped.

Felix smiled when he heard the elevator across the way dock into place.

He'd had specific ideas on how to handle the rebels back when the initial bombings had started. And now it seemed that he'd be able to put those ideas to some use.

2

With the exception of Red 13, who was being walked on a leash, the team found themselves being escorted through the 70th floor with their hands and feet cuffed together.

Cloud looked at the team around him. "This can't be happening . . . we'd gotten so far."

Holding his head in shame Barret gave no response. His brown eyes looked scared and right away Cloud understood that he was thinking about his little girl, Marlene.

The President sat at his desk, smiling wide as he watched the intruders dragged in front of him. Tseng and Rude forced the team to approach him until they were only ten feet away. Shinra looked each of them over in disgust, maintaining a toothy smile the entire time to rub in the fact that the rebels had been caught and would not be leaving with Hojo's most 'precious specimen'.

Cloud stared fiercely at him. "Where is Aeris!?"

Ominously, President Shinra said, "In a safe place." He stood up slowly from his desk and looked around the circular room. "She's the last surviving Ancient . . ." He looked directly at Cloud and questioned, "Did you know that the Ancients called themselves the Cetra, and that they lived thousands of years ago? Now they are just a forgotten page in history."

Red 13's dark eyes opened wide. "Cetra . . . that girl, is she a survivor of the Cetra?"

Winking at Red 13, the President continued, "The Cetra, or the Ancients, will show us the way to the 'Promised Land'. I'm expecting a lot out of her."

"The Promised Land? Isn't that just a legend?" the canyon creature asked.

"Even so, it's just too appealing not to pursue." Felix Shinra stared out of the mammoth windows and looked over the city of Midgar. "It's been said that the Promised Land is very fertile. And if the land is fertile . . ."

Barret finished, "Then there's gotta be Mako."

Laughing and smiling at Barret, the President said, "Exactly! That is why our gil-sucking Mako reactors won't be necessary in the Promised Land. The abundant Mako will seem as if it's coming out of the fertile earth on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built, Shinra's new glory."

_Neo-Midgar,_ Cloud thought. _Should've known that something was going on when we saw the things on the 65th floor . . . but everything had been going so smoothly, and all we really wanted to do was find Aeris._

Felix Shinra smiled. "Indeed . . . Neo-Midgar . . ."

Barret struggled against his handcuffs to no prevail, staring fiercely at the President of Shinra, Inc. He screamed angrily and yelled, "Quit dreamin', asshole!"

Still standing close by, Rude smacked Barret with the butt of his gun on the side of Barret's head.

President Shinra laughed. "Oh really, don't you know? These days all it takes for your dreams to come true is gil and power." He turned away from them. "Well, that is all for our meeting."

"Wait!" Cloud yelled. "Why capture us? Why not just kill us?"

President Shinra laughed. "Do you really want to die that badly?"

Cloud shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense . . ."

"The reason you vermin aren't currently worm food is because I feel a public execution would be the proper ending to all of this. That way any citizens who didn't believe us when we told them that it was AVALANCHE's fault for the plate collapse will get to see you killed. Executions always seem to change the public opinion. Seeing you all hanged or shot or whatever we decide to do to you will force the citizens to believe that it was your fault. Your mutilated bodies will also deter the other rebels out there from following in your interfering footsteps." He paused. "And anyways, people just love watching others put to death, don't they? Now get out of my sight."

Rude pushed them away from the President. "Come on! Outta his way!"

Cloud, Tifa, and Red 13 all glowered at the President, then turned slowly before gingerly walking away, the painful bindings around their ankles inebriating any chance of walking normally.

Barret, still raging, tried to run towards Shinra. "Hold it, you fat piece of shit! I got a lot I wanna say to you!" Rude quickly grabbed him by the neck, yanking Barret off of his feet. Even as Rude pulled him out of the room by his legs the large man struggled to get to the President. "I'm not done with you! You're gonna pay! You hear me!? You gonna pay!"

President Shinra walked back to his desk, composed. Polishing the buttons on his jacket he coolly said, "If you need anything else . . . talk to my secretary."

3

Rufus waited, out of sight, until the last of the prisoners had stepped inside the elevator. When the elevator doors closed he brushed his hands through his hair and began walking towards his father's desk.

"Talk to my secretary, huh?" he asked aloud.

His father looked up and spotted him. "An old line, but a good line, Rufus."

Rufus shrugged. "If you say so . . ."

For a few seconds father and son merely looked at each other, before Felix glanced down at his watch.

"It's late," Felix said, still looking at his watch. "Past midnight . . . what brings you out here at this hour?"

Rufus took a step forward. "Well . . . I was up . . . and I had things to do." He took another step, now only a few feet from his father's desk. "I've been thinking a lot and there were so many questions running through my mind that I felt the best solution would be to come and see you." He glanced back towards the elevator. "Although it seems like you've had your hands full. Would it be a bad time?"

Felix smiled. "That depends, Rufus. What kind of questions did you have in mind?"

Rufus took one last step forward and placed his hands on the edge of the desk. "I want to talk about you and me."

Nodding, his father replied, "Well, that's understandable . . ."

Before the President could finish Rufus hurled himself forward, over the top of the desk, and tackled his father to the ground.

"Rufus! What the . . .!?" Felix hollered.

With a hard snap of the wrist Rufus sent a fist into his father's face. "Shut it, old man! I'm the one who's doing the talking this time!"

Felix sneered at him, confusion rapidly transforming into wrath. "You little shit . . ." Another fist connected with the President's face. Instead of giving in to the pain, Felix instead laughed. "I always knew you were stupid, but . . ."

Rufus slammed his fist down so hard that his father's eyes rolled back. In his frustration Rufus lifted the dazed head in front of him and slammed it against the cold floor.

Spitting on the ground, Rufus said, "I said . . . it was _my_ turn to talk . . ."

4

When he awoke Felix found that he was again sitting at his desk. Lifting his head he saw that Rufus was casually sitting in front of him, his legs dangling off the edge of the desk.

"You . . ." Felix began, and then shut his mouth when he saw his son lift his arm.

Lowering the arm and placing it on his lap, Rufus said, "That's right . . . did we finally learn our lesson?" His father only stared back at him. Rufus continued, "You threw me for quite a loop, father. Bringing me back to Midgar with such style and dropping that bombshell on me . . . I really lost my wits for a period of time." He shrugged. "But in between the fun I was having with the slum-women I found that the same thoughts I'd been having for a while now started resurfacing." He sent a hand forward, lightly slapping his father's face.

"Damn you . . ." Felix mumbled.

Rufus slapped again. "Damn me?" He rocked his head back and laughed. "Anyways . . . Costa del Sol was nice for a while, but did you really think that I'd just forget about what you'd done to me? Did you think that I would just stop caring?" He shook his head. "Apparently you did! Because all of the sudden I'm being told that you want to speak with me in Midgar and then you're telling me that things have changed. And maybe for you they did change . . . but for me, every goddamn thing still feels exactly the same."

"Rufus . . ." his father whispered.

Rufus clenched his fist and struck Felix in the chest. "Shut up! How could you be so stupid as to believe that I would just nod my head and follow your orders like everyone else? I'm not like everyone else, you idiot!" He took a quick breath. "I came back to Midgar, not because you ordered me too, but because I wanted to kill you. But then you started talking about me taking over the company . . . and it got me thinking." He smiled, seeing the fear gradually entering his father's eyes. "Maybe . . . just maybe . . . I could have the best of both worlds! Maybe I could still go through with it . . . I could still kill you . . . and I could also still inherit the company . . ." He smiled again. "And how wonderful that the members of AVALANCHE showed up, giving me the perfect opportunity to go through with it . . ." He jumped up and off of the desk. "I'll kill you, and then I'll kill them . . . and then I'll report that I found them attacking you and that I heroically stopped the attack . . . only . . . 'my poor father didn't make it'."

"You bastard . . ." Felix said.

"That's right," Rufus cried. "You were never a father to me . . . so I really am a bastard, aren't I?"

He began to raise his fist into the air and smiled once again. The smile quickly faltered however when he saw his father quickly look from his son's eyes to a spot behind his head.

Before he could even spin his neck around Rufus felt a warm pain on the back of his head. As he collapsed to the ground his vision slowly blacked out.

Seconds before the darkness overcame him he slowly turned his throbbing head and saw two black boots and the end of a long, thin sword.

Unable to understand what had just happened, Rufus blacked out.


	31. 2-8 A Death in the Night

8. A Death in the Night

1

Three floors below the President and his son, Tseng and Rude threw the death-awaiting rebels into two jail cells located at the back corner of the 67th floor. Barret and Red 13 were locked in on the far right, while Cloud and Tifa were locked in the middle cell. They were unaware that someone else occupied the cell to the left of Cloud and Tifa's small, square room.

2

It had only been minutes before Barret began pacing back and forth, still full of energy and anger. He looked at Red 13 who was lying on his furry side on the cell floor. "Hey!"

The canyon creature solemnly glanced up at Barret. "Yes?"

Barret continued, "Aeris is an Ancient, and the real name of the Ancients is Cetra. The Ancients know where the Promised Land is and the Shinra are searching for it. I've only heard stories 'bout the Promised Land. Dunno if it really exists. The Shinra believe that the Promised Land is full of Mako energy . . . which means that if Shinra get there they'll suck up all the Mako. The land'll wither away. The Planet'll get weaker." He slammed his foot down onto the metal floor. "I can't just leave 'em be! I'm recruitin' new members! Me, Tifa, Cloud . . . and Aeris too!" He looked down at Red 13. "How 'bout you?"

Red 13 stood up and stretched, only to lie back down again and turn away from Barret. He sighed and whispered, "Grandfather . . ." His fiery tail, that before was constantly sweeping back and forth, was now still and curled next to his motionless body.

Barret exaggeratedly sighed and then slumped down onto the hard bed. "You're so damn boring."

3

Tifa sat down on the cot in her small cell with Cloud. Yawning and barely able to keep her eyes open she leaned her head on his shoulder and asked, "Can we get out?"

Cloud looked at the seemingly perilous steel door and then back at her with a smile. "Leave it to me."

She smiled back at him.

Without warning, a voice suddenly called from the cell next to theirs. "Hello? Cloud, are you there?"

_It's Aeris,_ Cloud thought, and felt some of the unease he'd been feeling speedily withdraw from his body.

"Aeris," he said, moving over to the side of the cell. "You safe?"

"Yeah, I'm all right." She touched the wall and closed her eyes. "I knew that you would come for me."

He grinned and shrugged even though she couldn't see him. He replied, "Hey, I'm your bodyguard, right?"

Giggling, Aeris placed her hands near her mouth and asked, "The deal was for one date, right?"

Tifa, suddenly cured of the sleepiness she'd been feeling, sat up promptly on her cot and said, "Oh, I get it . . ."

Aeris was surprised to hear Tifa's voice, her tone emitting her unawareness. "Tifa!? Tifa, you're there too!?"

"Well excuse me," Tifa cried.

Aeris quickly said, "Tifa, I'm sorry. It's not . . ." She trailed off.

Tifa leisurely stood up and walked over to the cell wall. Just when Cloud thought she was going to add more fire to the impending fight, Tifa calmly said, "You know, Aeris, I have a question."

"Yes?" Aeris replied hesitantly.

After a brief pause, Tifa asked, "Does the Promised Land really exist?"

Shaking her head Aeris took a breath and said, "I don't know . . ." She walked to the middle of her cell and looked upwards. "All I know is that the Cetra were born from the Planet, speak with the Planet, and then unlock the Planet. And then the Cetra return to the Promised Land . . . a land that promises supreme happiness."

Tifa questioned, "But what does that mean?"

Looking back down Aeris replied, "More than words . . . I don't know."

Cloud, still looking in Aeris' direction, repeated, "'Speak with the Planet' . . .?"

Tifa sat back down on the cot, regaining some of her former drowsiness. "Just what does the Planet say?"

Aeris sighed. "Well . . . it's full of people . . . and very noisy. That's why I can't make out what it's saying . . . what they're saying, I guess."

"You hear it now?" Cloud asked.

"I . . . I only heard it at the church in the slums," Aeris replied, nodding. "My mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. I mean . . . my real mother . . . she said that." She slowly sat down on her bed, starting to feel sleep overtaking her as well. "Someday I'll get out of Midgar, speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. That's what my mom, Ifalna, said." A tiny, mirthless laugh escaped her mouth. "I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up . . ." Drearily she slipped away into sleep, not knowing what the next day would bring.

Cloud saw Tifa already out cold on the cot. He contemplated lying down on the small mattress beside her, but thought better of it, and ended up sitting with his back against the cell wall before he nodded off.

4

A few hours later, still in his prison cell, Cloud woke up to a peculiar sight. The steel door to the cell was wide open, revealing the pale green wall outside of the square room. Shooting up from the ground he ran to the door. Aloud, he said, "The door's open . . . when did it open?" He slowly peeked his head outside of the cell to see if anyone was around, wondering what kind of ploy this might have been.

There was nothing to his right save for the last cell and end of the brief hallway, but to his left he spotted a Shinra guard lying on the ground, bloody and dead.

_What is going on?_

A Shinra guard may have been dead, and the door to his cell may have been unlocked and left open, but for some reason Cloud didn't think that any of this meant anything good for him and the others.

He turned around and walked back to Tifa, who was still sleeping on the cot. "Tifa, wake up!"

She sat up quickly, her hands instantly squeezing into fists. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Something's not right. Look outside."

"Outside?" she said, and then looked past him towards the open door.

They quietly walked out to the cadaver, still unsure of their current circumstance.

Tifa gasped and turned away for a second from the guard's slashed remains, not expecting to see what she was now seeing. She looked at Cloud. "I . . . I wonder what happened."

Cloud bent over and started to search the jacket of the fallen man. "He should have a key on him." With luck he found a set of keys on the inside of the guard's jacket pocket. "Tifa, get Aeris, I'll go help the others."

Tifa went to Aeris' cell while Cloud ran to Barret and Red 13's. As soon as he had the door open he called out, "Barret, Red 13, come with me. Something's wrong."

Barret stood up in a daze. "What the!? How'd you get in? Why's the door open!?" Cloud led them both to the blood-soaked guard. Barret raised his eyebrows. "What the hell's going on!?"

"That's what I would like to know," Cloud said, staring down at the dead guard.

Red 13, looking at the mess, added, "No human could've done this. The body's barely intact . . ." He looked down the hallway that led out of the cell area. A trail of blood ran down the hall as far as they could see. "I'll go on ahead and take a look around."

He began to race off when Barret shouted, "No! We gotta stick together!"

Aeris and Tifa had now emerged out of the last cell. Aeris covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh . . . oh my . . ."

Red 13 was still looking at Barret. "Well, if we're going to stick together we have to go now. I don't want to stay here any longer . . . it doesn't feel right." He then began to make his way down the hallway.

Tifa yelled, "Come on, let's follow Red 13!"

As they began to walk Barret yelled, "Damn . . . he's right about something . . ."

"What?" Cloud asked.

Barret clapped him softly on the back. "Something definitely don't feel right . . ."

5

Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, and Barret all walked cautiously down the hallway, following wherever Red 13 and the trail of blood led them. They crossed paths with a few other dead guards before approaching an unmoving Red 13, who had stopped at the entrance to the lower laboratory.

The area was filled with the unoccupied and disfigured bodies of Shinra scientists and guards.

Red 13 waited in front of the igloo shaped dome. The purple light that each of them remembered seeing was now absent. And where a door had existed before, a gaping hole existed now.

The dome was as empty as the silence that filled the floor.

Cloud, bewildered and shocked, stared at the metal dome as he walked closer to Red 13. "Did it get away? Jenova . . .?"

"Jenova Specimen," Red 13 responded, his fierce eyes thinned. "Looks like it went to the upper floor using that specimen elevator."

Cloud shuddered.

_Jenova . . . did it escape, or was it taken?_

6

The quintet rode the confined specimen elevator and walked out onto the upper laboratory on the 68th floor.

Still more blood.

This floor was equally flooded with dozens of spoiled bodies. The trail of blood continued on towards the staircase. Red 13 looked at the group. "It looks like it leads up . . ."

As they proceeded towards the stairs they heard Barret take a deep breath and say, "This ain't right . . . this ain't right . . ."

Despite his apparent reluctance to continue the team advanced to the stairs and then slowly made their way up to the 69th floor. The door that normally required a keycard was ripped open and laying on the floor.

The trail of blood continued.

7

As they followed the path of blood they looked around the massive room. It appeared to be one gigantic office. Hundreds of cubicles surrounded them as they walked down the center of the hallway. These offices appeared to be the best-of-the-best, saved for Shinra's top executive workers.

A giant staircase with purple carpeting was now looming before them.

The path of blood still went on.

"Up we go," Barret said.

Slowly climbing from the 69th to the 70th floor, which was the President's room that they had been to earlier, they noticed that no one had encountered them the entire time.

_No one alive, at least . . ._

Then the blood ended. The trail stopped suddenly at the President's desk.

A unanimous gasp exited the mouths of the group.

President Shinra was seated in his chair, face down on his desk. A large, thin sword protruded from his back.

They all froze where they stood, baffled and stunned by what they were seeing.

Barret suddenly dropped to his knees. "He's dead . . ." With joyous tears in his eyes he looked up at the sky and rejoiced, "The leader of Shinra, Inc. is dead."

Tifa ran around to the lifeless body. Touching the cold steel of the sword's long blade she said in amazement, "Then this sword must be . . ."

"Sephiroth's!" Cloud yelled, still staring at the thin sword.

"Sephiroth is alive?" Tifa asked as she walked back over to him.

Cloud's face was pale. "It seems so. Only Sephiroth can use that sword."

Barret laughed out loud. Putting his hand on Cloud's shoulder he said, "Who cares who did it!? This is the end of the Shinra!"

Cloud found himself trembling. He saw that Tifa's body was shaking slightly as well.

_No, Barret, it means a lot more than that . . ._

A noise came from behind one of the pillars. Martin Palmer, the large man they'd seen eating chocolate at the meeting earlier, ran out and tried to squeeze by them. Cloud and Barret each grabbed one of his fat arms.

"Please, don't kill me!" he screamed, trying to get out of their vice-like hold.

Cloud squeezed harder on Palmer's arm and yelled, "What happened?"

"Se . . . Seph . . . Sephiroth! Sephiroth came!"

Cloud trembled again, knowing now that his guess had been confirmed. "Did you see him? Did you really see Sephiroth!?"

"Yeah, I saw him! I saw him with my own two eyes!" Palmer was shaking uncontrollably.

"You really saw him?" Cloud asked, not wanting it to be true.

"Would I lie to you at a time like this!? I heard his voice too!" Tears rolled down his plump cheeks. "He was saying something about not letting us have the Promised Land."

Red 13 looked around at the group. "Then what? Does that mean that the Promised Land truly exists and that Sephiroth is here to save it from the Shinra?"

Barret smiled and asked, "So he's a good guy then?"

Both Cloud and Tifa shook their heads. Cloud said, "Save the Promised Land? A good guy? No way! It's not that simple. I know him! Sephiroth's mission is different . . ."

Stretching her arm out, Aeris said, "Look!"

Outside of the giant bay windows the quintet saw a red-haired man talking furiously on a cellular phone.

"Who's that?" Red 13 asked.

At that moment Palmer felt Cloud and Barret both loosen their grip on him. After a few seconds he shook them off and ran towards the door to the balcony.

Not even concerned with Palmer fleeing, Barret, very annoyed and angry, hollered, "Rufus! Goddamnit! I forgot about that son of a bitch!"

Tifa asked, "Who's that?"

Barret replied, "I'm actually ain't surprised you haven't heard much about him . . . but he's technically the Vice President of Shinra, Inc. He's the President's son."

"I wonder what kind of person he is . . ." Cloud said, his mind reeling over the current fate of Shinra, Inc.

Aeris shivered. "I've heard of him before. On the streets of Midgar they say that no one has ever seen him cry. They say that he's sadistic and takes his anger out on women."

Barret added, "I'd heard that he'd been living somewhere else for a long time . . . I doubt anyone around here has seen him for quite a while."

Cloud said, "If he's the son of Felix Shinra then I doubt he's up to anything good." He took out his sword and ran for the door that led to the balcony. The rest of the team followed.

8

Rufus, a tall and average looking man, had reddish salt and pepper hair and a lot more power to him than it would have seemed by his appearance. He was tall and solidly built, not looking much like his stout father. He didn't look the least bit remorseful knowing that his father had just died. In fact, although he was holding the back of his head in pain, he appeared to be smiling.

The team found Rufus and Palmer talking on the balcony. Rufus rubbed his hands together and grinned. "So . . . it _was_ Sephiroth. I saw the thin blade before he hit me but I couldn't be sure." He tittered. "I can't believe it . . . Sephiroth was actually here."

The two then noticed Cloud and the others approaching fast. Palmer shrieked and ran away.

Putting his nose in the air Rufus asked, "By the way, who are you guys?"

"I'm Cloud, former SOLDIER, First Class."

"I'm from AVALANCHE!"

"Same here!"

"Um . . . I'm a flower girl from the slums."

"I suppose . . . a research specimen . . ."

Rufus shrugged his broad shoulders and grinned. "What a crew . . ." He smoothed his hair very nonchalance. "Well, I'm Rufus . . . the President of Shinra, Inc."

Barret spit at the ground and yelled, "You only President cuz your old man died!"

"That's right," Rufus said, still smiling and looking suave. "I suppose I should be thankful that I'm alive as well, seeing as I was, for some reason, spared while my father was murdered." He paused. "And although I would've liked to have done it myself . . . I don't plan on getting myself down about it."

"You're terrible!" Tifa cried.

Rufus shrugged and looked over her body. "It would appear so, honey . . ." He took a breath and then continued, "I'll let you hear my new appointment speech." He walked to Tifa. "My old man tried to control the Planet with gil. It seems to have been working." He walked to Aeris. "The population thought that Shinra would protect them. It was a two-way relationship of authority for all you educated folk out there." He walked to Barret. "Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside." He walked to Cloud. "But I do things differently. I'll control the Planet with fear, a one-way relationship using force. The people will do what I tell them to or else. It takes too much to do it like my old man." He walked to the railing of the balcony and looked over the edge, grabbing again at the back of his injured head. "A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste gil on them."

Tifa shook her head slowly and whispered, "He likes to make speeches just like his father."

Cloud also shook his head before turning around to face the rest of the team. With a stern look in his Mako-infused eyes he said, "Get out of the building with Aeris!"

Confused, Barret asked, "What?"

"I'll explain later, but this is what we really came here to do!" Cloud eyed the large man in front of him. "Barret, this is a real crisis for the Planet!"

Barret twitched and looked at him. "What the hell's that supposed to mean? You bein' cute with me now, too?" Barret stomped his boot. "Damnit!"

Cloud grabbed him by the shirt and yelled, "I'll tell you later! Just take my word for it. I'll go . . . after I take care of him."

Barret shrugged. "Awright, Cloud!" He signaled for the rest of the group to follow him back inside.

After a few quick goodbyes they all ran back inside the building, leaving Cloud alone with Rufus.

For a short time the two only stared at each other. Until tonight neither of them had seen the other.

"Do you plan on following in your father's footsteps? All of this Neo-Midgar stuff?" Cloud asked, staring into the new Shinra President's eyes. He didn't like the gleeful look plastered on the new President's face.

Rufus stared back at Cloud, still smiling. "I don't see why that matters to you . . . but of course. I'll continue to slowly increase the Mako rates until the Promised Land is eventually found. And then I will accomplish what my father only dreamed about. I will build Neo-Midgar and have complete control over the entire Planet." He paused to take a breath. "Now the real question is . . . why do you want to fight me?"

The mercenary gave Rufus a cold, hard look and responded, "You already know the answer to that."

"Do I?"

The ex-SOLDIER nodded and then took a small step in Rufus' direction. "You seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth."

Rufus nodded. "Hmm, exactly. I see . . ." He walked closer to Cloud. "Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?"

Cloud shook his head and calmly answered, "No, that's not . . ." He took a deep breath. "A lot has happened. Either way, I can't let you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land! I will die before I let either of you have it!" His hand was now gradually making its way down to the holster which carried his sword.

Cloud thought about Aeris and the others, hoping that they were safe, hoping that they could make it out of the cursed building.

_Barret, Tifa, Red 13, please take care of her. Do everything in your power for her. Please . . ._

Cloud grabbed the handle of his Buster sword and repeated, "I will die before I let you have the Promised Land!"

"I see," Rufus said, pulling out a short, metal staff from a holster concealed on his belt. Pointing it at Cloud he grimly said, "I guess this means we won't become friends."


	32. 2-9 At the End of the Road

9. The End of the Road

1

Barret led the team quickly down the stairs to the 69th floor. He didn't feel right leaving Cloud alone with Rufus, but the ex-SOLDIER had stressed just how important Aeris' safety was. They had gotten so far and still had their lives. If Cloud had his own business with Rufus then that was fine with him but Barret wasn't going to press their luck.

As they were about to get onto the elevator Aeris paused.

Tifa questioned, "What's wrong?" She seemed to know exactly what Aeris was going to say even before she said it, for her feelings were the same.

Aeris looked up towards the 70th floor. "I just thought of something. What if Cloud . . .?"

Tifa hugged her and stepped off the elevator, holding the doors open. "I'll wait for Cloud! Now all of you get on the elevator!"

The team got in and pressed the 'Down' button, watching the doors terminate their view of Tifa. Turning around they could each see the city of Midgar through the glass.

2

The sound of steel slamming into steel seemed to echo across the balcony and down to the plate of Midgar as Cloud and Rufus began their battle. Blow after blow Cloud's sword couldn't seem to get past Rufus' staff.

He bent low and swung for Rufus' legs. With a quick jump Rufus avoided the blade.

Throwing his sword to his left hand Cloud grabbed his enemy's white jacket and tried to force him into the blade. Rufus quickly spun around fast, slipping out of the jacket and away from the fatal blow of the sword.

3

The elevator descended slowly, the ride was smooth and soundless. Each of them watched as the ground outside got closer and closer to them.

Everyone in the elevator was worrying about Cloud, but soon found that there wouldn't be time to dwell on those worrisome thoughts. For they now had their own problems to worry about and deal with.

A huge Shinra produced machine suddenly flew up from the ground outside and collided directly into the side of the elevator, shattering the glass while simultaneously startling the team and knocking them to the debris-covered floor.

About half the size of a helicopter, the machine hovered back and forth between the inside and outside of the elevator, bringing its blades closer and closer to the team.

Barret forced Aeris behind him.

Red 13 pushed at the hovering machine, using the majority of his remaining strength as he kept the mechanical attacker away from them.

Barret unloaded dozens of rounds of ammo at it, screaming loudly as he did so. He fired every moment that he saw Red 13 back away from it.

The elevator's smooth ride was now gone. The machine repeatedly slammed into the cab, bumping it around vigorously.

The decent became faster and faster, feeling almost like a free fall. Aeris grabbed onto the railing while Barret continued to unleash his ammunition at the small chopper.

4

For what seemed like hours Cloud and Rufus exchanged blows, never able to give each other that one fatal blow that they were trying to achieve.

Then by surprise, while their weapons were forced against each other, Rufus kicked Cloud hard in the shin. Cloud lost strength for that crucial moment, giving Rufus the chance to bash him across the face.

Cloud fell down, his mouth burning with the taste of blood, and heard Rufus laughing at him. Angry, and determined to put an end to the Shinra once and for all, Cloud jumped to his feet hastily and took a mighty swing at Rufus.

Prepared for the attack Rufus held out his staff to block the blow. The force that Cloud used took the staff out of Rufus' hands, sending it onto the floor of the balcony.

5

Through the chaos Barret could see flashing lights in front of the building.

SOLDIER had the entire Headquarters surrounded, and it appeared that a few of the elite fighters were currently being sent into the building.

"Nothing like the murder of a President to get everyone all riled up . . ." Barret mumbled between clenched teeth as he continued to unleash ammunition as the machine. By now Red 13 was straining to simply remain on his four feet.

Yellow and orange sparks started to fly, not only from the machine but from the sides of the elevator as well. The varying dynamics of the scraping metal provided a constant and terrifying sound.

Aeris seemed to scream louder and at a higher pitch as they continued to plummet faster. Nothing could be seen outside of the elevator except a blur of color at this point, the scene simply rushing by.

The nuts and bolts of the mini-helicopter flew chaotically from its faltering body, burning and piercing Barret and Red 13.

The lion growled and flung itself at the hovering machine once again, pushing it outside of the elevator. Panting heavily he collapsed onto the floor that was now covered in oversized chunks of broken glass.

Barret had finally run out of ammo but knew that he had no time to reload – there wasn't much more to reload anyhow.

"Damn!" he screamed.

Hearing Aeris' screams and seeing that Red 13 was growing tired of keeping the machine away he screamed his throat hoarse and then flung his giant body at the attacker.

6

Cloud paused a moment and slowly walked towards Rufus, who was now unarmed yet still displaying a composed face that showed that he didn't fear his enemy.

Clandestinely Rufus started to walk backwards. Cloud followed him equally as slow, matching his steps, getting nearer to the edge of the balcony, prepared to end this man's life.

Rufus glided his hands through his hair and laughed. "Heh, heh. I believe that'll be all for today."

A helicopter suddenly lurched up from the side of the building. Cloud didn't have to guess that the phone conversation he'd seen Rufus having earlier involved this helicopter coming to retrieve the new President.

After a quick breath the ex-SOLDIER raised his sword high and frantically charged at Rufus.

Before he made it more than a few feet explosions of gunfire erupted from the semi-automatic cannons attached to the chopper. Cloud dropped to the ground and ducked for cover to avoid the bucketing rain of bullets.

When the gunfire finally subsided he glanced up to see that Rufus was gone. Frustrated that he hadn't killed him he punched the floor and pulled at his hair.

After a few seconds he stopped and took a deep breath.

_The danger's not over yet._

He jumped to his feet and ran for the door. After taking one last glance at the former President Shinra dead at his desk he followed the trail of blood once again.

7

Barret's scream was low and aggressive, filled with pure hatred. Any human would have gotten out of the way at that point but this was a machine that didn't know any better.

Pulling wires with his left hand while pummeling the flying machine with his gunarm he continued to scream.

Even as the machine sliced Barret's dark skin it gradually stopped moving, its insides sizzling with many separate tiny explosions.

Its swift blades finally died out, leaving it to fall the remaining stories of the building. It crashed and exploded when it struck the dark asphalt below.

With the bombardment over the elevator started to slow and then quickly regained its balance, wobbling less and less as they descended.

Red 13 panted and dropped back to the floor, whispering frantic words to himself, feeling lucky to be alive. It had been a long time since he had used up most of his stamina. The battles tonight were taking their toll on his body.

Pain was flowing through Barret's body the same as it was flowing through Red 13's. Every limb burned, every muscle felt sore.

However at this point they were just happy that Aeris had stopped screaming.

8

Running down the stairs to the 69th floor Cloud was greeted by Tifa, who gave a sigh of relief when she saw him running towards her.

She put her arms around him, releasing an enormous smile. She saw that his mouth was bleeding but he didn't appear to be seriously injured.

When he didn't hug her back she knew that something was wrong. "Where's Rufus?"

He gave her a shameful look. "I couldn't finish him. Looks like this is gonna get complicated . . ."

They both raced for an elevator on the opposite side of the room.

Before they'd had a chance to hit the 'call' button, the elevators doors in from of them parted, revealing three SOLDIER's.

"Tifa, get back!" Cloud screamed, shoving her behind him while simultaneously grabbing for his sheathed sword.

Without a word the three SOLDIER's leaped from the elevator and began their attack.

One was slashing at his legs, another was grabbing for his arm.

Cloud recognized the style of uniform and determined that these fighters were Second Class SOLDIER's, although that still wasn't exactly good news.

Pain erupted in his head. He'd been defending himself from the blade in front of him when a boot had connected with his head.

He fell and spun, his eyes wide as he saw the third SOLDIER racing towards Tifa.

Suddenly there were circles in front of his eyes, and he knew he's taken another kick to his head.

Behind him he heard the distinct thump of something landing on the floor and knew that Tifa had fallen. Before he could check on her a blade whizzed past his ear. He quickly ducked and then rammed his elbow into the boot of the closest fighter. The SOLDIER didn't fall, but he stumbled enough to give Cloud the chance to swing his sword around, solidly connecting with the man's ankle.

As Cloud tried to swing again his blade was suddenly kicked out of his hands. He flipped over hastily, but not fast enough to avoid the small, green bolt of electricity that had exited the SOLDIER's hand.

Even as he felt the short sizzle of pain on his insides Cloud found himself suddenly heartened.

_Materia . . . they have materia!_

A stone's throw away from Cloud Tifa tried her best to avoid the sword that was trying to dismember her. She'd gotten in a few decent kicks and punches but overall it seemed that the man could read her every move.

She sent a fist towards his head as he lifted his blade but he carefully countered, moving to his left and striking her with his own hand.

Without warning she was turned halfway around, and before she could turn back a flair of aggressive heat exploded on her lower back. She could feel the trickle of blood as it exited the thin wound.

Still on her toes she bent low and tried to sweep-kick the SOLDIER, but he jumped before she could come into contact with his legs. When the fighter landed he drove the handle of the blade into the top of her head.

She went dizzy and felt backwards to the floor.

Cloud barrel-rolled out of the way as another blast of electricity was sent in his direction, and he was grateful that the Second Class fighter wasn't better trained with materia.

The fighter who's ankle he'd hit had dropped his blade, and as Cloud rolled near it he quickly picked the weapon up with his left hand, his own blade still in his right.

He sprang to his feet and turned around, quickly ducking to avoid a fury of bolts coming his way.

When he straightened again he charged forward, forcing the blades to crisscross chaotically in front of him.

The SOLDIER tried his best to use the materia before Cloud got any further but before he had the chance Cloud was already in striking distance.

Slash – one hand gone.

Slash – another hand gone.

The SOLDIER shrieked as he watched not only his sword fall to the floor, but his two severed hands.

Before the fighter could look back up from the ground Cloud took a mighty swing with his own blade and slashed through the man's neck, severing the fighter once again – although this time, the cut had been fatal.

Tifa thought she was done for.

She crawled slowly away from the SOLDIER, who tauntingly crept closer, casually swinging his sword out in front of him.

Before she knew it, she was trapped up against one of the floor's gigantic windows.

"No," she pleaded.

With an evil smile the fighter said, "Yes," and then spun quickly, giving his sword extra momentum.

During the man's spin Tifa spun herself, punching the glass with all of her might and shattering it. She then dove back to the floor as the man's launched himself in her direction, his blade only inches from her face.

In the blink of eye she grabbed his wrist and aggressively pulled, sending the SOLDIER and all of his momentum past her and out through the broken window.

His screaming ceased as he plunged further down the building.

Cloud knelt down and grasped the green materia orb out of the headless SOLDIER's sword. Standing up he gingerly placed it in one of the three materia slots he had on his own weapon.

"Cloud, look out!" Tifa suddenly screamed, and Cloud turned to see that the man whose ankle he had punctured was racing towards him.

With a quick breath Cloud focused on that old familiar feeling he had learned to search for long ago, and before the SOLDIER had a chance to attack Cloud unleashed a magnificent display of electrical bolts in his direction.

The man didn't even have time to scream before his contorted face went blank and his lifeless body fell to the floor.

Cloud closed his eyes.

_I really missed having that power . . ._

Not wasting any more time he quickly called Tifa over and they both entered the nearby elevator.

Once inside they enjoyed the slow ride down while they caught their breaths.

"I'm glad you're okay," Tifa said, once again hugging him. "You were amazing back there!"

He returned the hug this time. "Thanks, Tifa. But you should be congratulating yourself as well . . . that was a Second Class SOLDIER you defeated back there."

She nodded. "Yeah . . . I kind of figured . . ."

As the elevator continued to descend Cloud gazed around the cab and saw a couple of signs posted on a small bulletin board on the wall of the elevator. One was bright yellow and raved about Shinra's new in-home security system, which supposedly came free with a giant steel cage and synchronized activation switch. The other was bright neon-green and boasted about Shinra's new technological achievements.

Cloud studied it, his frenzied mind whirling. Aloud he read part of it to himself. "'Come see Shinra's New High-Tech Transportation Vehicles on the 2nd Floor of the lobby'." He smiled and looked at Tifa. "Tifa . . ."

"Yeah," she replied, turning her head to see what he was looking at.

"I have an idea."

9

Safely arriving on the bottom floor, Barret, Aeris, and Red 13 ran from the elevator to the main exit.

Halting by the set of doors Barret signaled the team to stop. He yelled, "I'll go on ahead!" and ran out through the doors.

A hail of gunfire emerged in front him. He dropped down quickly and crawled back through the doors. "Damnit! Forgot we were surrounded!" All of the Shinra's remaining reinforcements were outside of the building, using a military blockade to keep the team from getting away.

He explained the situation to Aeris and Red 13. Aeris frowned. "You all get out while you can. Really . . . it's not you they're after . . . it's me."

Barret shook his head and looked at her. "Yeah, well that ain't happenin'. You got caught up in this over Marlene. Now it's my turn to watch out for you!" He loaded his gunarm and walked toward the doors. "Aright, playtime's over for you jackasses!"

Aeris took a step towards him. "Thank you, Mr. Wallace."

"What the hell did I just hear?" Barret shouted. He turned around and gave her a strange look. "Who you callin' Mr.? That don't sound right!"

Walking in between them Red 13 said, "Well then, if you are through talking, may I suggest that we think of a way to get out of here."

Barret smirked at him. "Huh? Oh, oh yeah. Jeez you a cold dude. So damn grim."

"Did you say something?" Red 13 questioned, his brows elevated slightly over his burning eyes.

"Notta thing, just being cute . . ." Barret raised his massive arms. "So what're we gonna do?"

Before Barret could make up his mind - whether or not to take on the entire Shinra fleet by himself - Tifa came running out from the lobby. "Barret!"

She was alone, which greatly concerned him. "Tifa! Where's Cloud?"

Tifa stopped and yelled, "Everyone, over here!"

They all ran towards her. Barret questioned, "Huh? What's up, Tifa? Where the hell is Cloud?"

She signaled them to follow her then started running towards the back of the lobby. "I'll tell you later! Hurry, hurry!"

Behind them they heard the glass windows in the front of the building shatter. More SOLDIER's were making their way into the building.

10

They all briskly ran toward the back of the 1st floor and then up a flight of stairs to the 2nd floor, following Tifa's lead.

They slowed down when they heard the 'roaring' of some type of engine, fearing that it was someone from SOLDIER.

Cloud, on Shinra's new and improved motorcycle, came into view from the Shinra showroom. He revved the engine and pointed in the direction of a freshly designed Shinra pick-up truck.

Tifa hopped in the driver's side and started the truck while Barret grabbed Aeris and Red 13 and leaped onto the truck's hatch. When they were secure Tifa slammed on the pedal and followed Cloud's lead.

Holding on for his life Cloud pushed the motorcycle hard through the halls of the lobby. He checked his rearview mirror to make sure that the team was still behind him. Reducing his speed only slightly he raised his hand and pointed upwards.

Barret held onto the sides of the truck-bed while Aeris and Red 13 held onto the large man as best as they could.

Taking a hairpin turn Cloud forced the bike up a flight of stairs, burning fresh rubber on the red Shinra carpet. The truck was having a harder time getting up the stairs but when it finally did Cloud pointed towards a window. They were three stories up, so he wasn't sure if his plan would work or not, but at this point they were out of options.

Cloud gently tapped the bike with his hand and took in a giant breath of air.

_I sure hope you're as efficient and advanced as that sign said you were._

Slamming down the throttle he punched the bike from first to fourth gear and zoomed straight for the window. Lights of all different colors were flashing outside from the awaiting blockade.

As they raced on the team all held their breath, and when the window shattered they closed their eyes. Out of the 3rd floor window both vehicles soared across the sky above the heads of the people below. Bracing themselves for the harsh fall ahead they again closed their eyes, each of them squeezing their eyelids as hard as they could.

11

They landed with a superlative crunch and a shrill shriek from the burning tires. Somehow the tires had held their composure.

_Wow . . . these things _are_ advanced!_

Rejoicing and checking to make sure that everyone was okay Cloud slowed down the bike a little. Just when he was close enough to see them he heard sirens. Looking behind him he saw five soldiers on motorcycles riding fast towards him.

Grabbing the throttle and revving the engine he soon realized that he couldn't get the bike up to as fast of a speed as before - the impact _had_ affected the bike.

The other bikers swiftly closed in on him.

With one hand on the steering wheel and the throttle Cloud kept control of the bike while weaving back and forth to protect himself and his friends in the truck. With his other hand he pulled out his Buster sword and planned to use it against the oncoming attackers.

From the truck Barret fired at the bikers with the last of his ammunition, hitting one and causing him to fall off of his bike and onto the black highway of Midgar.

Back and forth Cloud maneuvered, keeping the ferocious motorcyclists away from the team.

One suddenly sped up and got in front of him. Surrounded by attackers and running out of what little fuel he had Cloud made a desperate attempt to save his team.

He pushed his motorcycle's engine as much as he could until he was only a few feet behind the man in front of him. Leaning over his bike he took his sword and slashed at the driver. The cut caused the man to let go of his steering wheel and fall to the road.

Cloud quickly sat up and forced his bike to the left. The enemy's bike that was in front of him quickly tipped over, knocking over two other bikers in its path. They tumbled off of their bikes, colliding with the shadowy asphalt.

_One left,_ he thought.

Cloud looked back at the last enemy. He moved his bike closer to the truck. Keeping his eye on the enemy and the truck he made a death-defying jump from his bike. Landing on the truck-bed he regained his balance and pointed his sword at the enemy, silently challenging him.

But to his amazement, the enemy backed off and was quickly out of sight.

"Cloud!" Aeris yelled, embracing him.

Tifa yelled from the front, "Quick! Everyone hold on!"

Cloud fell down as the truck rounded a sharp turn. Looking out of the front of the truck he saw the edge of Midgar.

Tifa slammed on the brakes as they came closer and closer to the end of the highway, where the road simply vanished, leaving any unsuspecting driver with a thousand foot drop to look forward to.

The truck finally stopped on the edge of the broken road, seemingly inches away from a mortal drop.

12

The team quickly got out of the truck, all of them facing away from Midgar, the vast Cardian Mountains in sight. Small lakes and green lands could be seen, the early morning sun rose in the distance, and from behind them a giant, black machine barreled down the highway.

Sore and physically exhausted the team turned back towards the metropolis and prepared themselves for another one of Shinra's devious machines.

Almost as wide as the highway road itself and painted jet black, this machine was pure, violent, mechanical wrath driving straight towards them at a break-neck speed.

Cloud looked around at his team, praying for all of their safety.

Barret squinted down at his gunarm, wishing that he had some ammunition left. In spite of its emptiness he held it out towards the approaching enemy.

Tifa strained to make a fist, physically exhausted, barely keeping her tired eyes more than halfway open.

Red 13 was breathing unhealthily fast and hunched over low to the ground, his fiery tail motionless.

And then there was Aeris, standing next to Cloud like an angel that had fallen from the heavens.

He couldn't let all they had just done to save her go to waste.

The machine bulldozed down the highway, roaring its engine, increasing its speed.

Cloud pulled out his sword and glanced at the green materia orb still set firmly in the handle of the weapon.

_It should still have the strength to take the machine out. I just hope that I have enough strength to use it._

With danger coming ever closer to him and his team, he held out the sword and began to summon the mighty power of the sphere, trying his hardest to achieve its maximum potential.

Sweating profusely, desperately trying to concentrate on the orb and not the machine pounding forward and getting closer to them by the second, Cloud started to feel a tingling in his hand. Straining his brain hard enough to force an aneurism he brought all of the energy of the Planet through him and out through the materia orb.

Still cruising at top speed down the dark road the enemy's sound of death grew into an ear-piercing scream.

Cloud released the energy sending an extensive stream of electrical bolts from his hands and in the direction of the oncoming machine.

Weakness suddenly overcame him, and he fell to the dark street in agony, completely out of power.

The bolts immediately hit the machine, causing a series of sparks to fly and the twisted metal to sizzle. The direct relationship between the sheer force of electricity and the machine's metallic form was enough to shut down the giant enemy.

But even though it had slowed down and was completely broken, it's various parts exploding chaotically here and there, it still came at them with tremendous speed.

From on the ground Cloud could only watch as the metallic giant rolled closer and closer to the team. Unable to move he closed his eyes and waited for the worst.

With nowhere to run the team glanced over the edge of the broken highway. A thousand foot drop was something none of them could live through, including Cloud this time – he was physically sitting on the edge of death as it was.

Nothing would break their fall below except the dead and sharp terrain of the outskirts of Midgar. The ground was literally lifeless due to the Mako extraction it had endured over the years.

Barret grabbed Cloud's limp body and dragged him as close to the edge as he could. He closed his eyes and waited for the end.

Within seconds the machine started to slow. The road rose upwards towards the end of the highway which gave the team new hope.

Standing on a thin line of life between two thick lines of death they watched as the machine's wheels finally gave out on the incline of the road. With a mind-boggling amount of noise and a landing that shook everything in the nearby area the black machine fell and came to an abrupt and ear-shattering stop.

Taking a few steps away from the edge of the road the team collapsed onto the pavement, their hearts hammering so loudly in their ears that it was almost deafening.


	33. 2-10 Events to Come

10. Events to Come

1

_Amazing,_ Hojo thought. _Could it really be . . . after all this time?_

He stood on the 67th floor in front of the igloo-like structure that had a short time ago housed one of his most precious specimens.

"Jenova . . ." he said, staring at the broken entrance of the gray dome in front of him.

But that wasn't the only name floating through his spinning mind at the moment.

_Sephiroth . . ._

2

After he'd escaped the ferocious clutches of the canyon creature Hojo had run for one of the stairways. Shortly after he had alerted the President about the intruders, and once he'd heard that the Turks had done what his oozing specimen could not he had made his way back to the 67th floor.

He'd salvaged what he could, even scooping some of the steaming slime up from the floor, and then had made his way towards one of the floor's corner closets.

Searching in vain for a fresh lab coat he'd been seconds away from exiting the cramped space of the closet when he'd heard a bone-chilling shriek.

Immediately stepping further into the closet he had quickly closed the door, but had then left enough space for him to see what was going on in the laboratory.

In his mind he'd been amazed to think that the rebels had somehow escaped once again. But soon, with his eyes, he'd learned what was truly happening.

One by one, as the frightened scientists and scattered guards on the floor made their way to potential exits, a tall, black-caped man used his long, thin sword to swiftly end their lives.

Hojo had dropped to his knees when he'd seen the long gray hair on the man, and he'd almost passed out when the man turned around, revealing his intense, Mako-infused eyes.

_Sephiroth . . ._

The black-caped man had then made his way over to the igloo-shaped cell and had violently ripped the metal door off of its hinges.

Hojo had then watched Sephiroth yank Jenova's frozen form out of the dome. The black-caped man had then walked off out of sight, dragging a slowly shrinking Jenova in his wake.

3

The Shinra scientist stood in front of the broken dome and wasn't wondering about Sephiroth's seemingly magical powers – Hojo knew that there were many things the black-caped man could do besides manipulate forms – but instead found himself wondering why Sephiroth had done what he'd done.

The black-caped man had not only killed almost everyone in sight before and after he had retrieved Jenova from her cage, but he had apparently murdered the President of Shinra, Inc.

Hojo shook his head.

_Wasn't Sephiroth supposed to be dead?_

Various scientific theories were flashing in and out of his whirling mind, theories that had originally been formed by Dr. Simon Gast, and then had been worked on and evaluated by Hojo himself.

_If Sephiroth isn't dead,_ he thought, _could this all be part of the Jenova Reunion?_

He suddenly found himself exhilarated.

_Could it be that . . .?_

He stopped himself from thinking too far into it at this point in time. Sephiroth was alive and had come to the Shinra Headquarters to retrieve Jenova. That was all that mattered.

Hojo was a scientist. He'd search for the answers by doing what he did best.

_Although I can't lie to myself,_ he thought. _This _is_ a somewhat personal matter as well . . ._

As he turned away from the broken dome he promised himself that after a few hours of sleep that he'd begin searching for the answers that his spinning mind was desperately seeking.

He would soon realize that finding those answers would require him to leave the great city of Midgar.

Although with Sephiroth's burning, greenish-blue gaze currently fixed inside of his mind, Hojo was ready to do anything.


	34. 2-11 Ahead on Our Way

11. Ahead on Our Way

1

After a few minutes of rest the team gathered and stood on the broken freeway. A few warning lights glowed a strong red at the end of the road, somehow reminding the team that the danger wasn't quite over.

Cloud was slowly feeling his strength return to his body, though his aching limbs still burned.

Looking off into the distance, seeing mountains and a fresh sky, Barret asked, "Well, what do we do now?"

Cloud looked in the same direction as Barret, noticing the distinct difference between the land around Midgar and the land in the distance. There were vast amounts of green in sight. Everything wasn't so dead and barren the farther it got away from the floating metropolis.

Looking at Barret the ex-SOLDIER dourly said, "Sephiroth is alive. I have to settle the score."

"And that'll save the Planet?"

"Seems like it."

Barret raised his gunarm. "Awright, I'm going!"

Aeris walked to them. "I'll go too. I have things that I want to find out."

Cloud questioned, "About the Ancients?"

She nodded. "Many things . . ."

Joining the group and looking back at the city, Tifa said, "I guess this is goodbye, Midgar."

2

Using an old construction staircase the team cautiously climbed their way down to the floor of the Planet.

Amongst dead grass and dirt the team gathered again, a thousand feet under the plate, outside of the walls of Midgar.

Red 13 walked up next to Barret. "I'm going back to my hometown, Cosmo Canyon. I'll go with you as far as that."

Barret was shocked. "Cosmo Canyon! I've always wanted to go there. I always promised to take the guys there . . . where AVALANCHE was founded . . ." He trailed off, remembering that they were all dead.

Tifa tried to smile at him, but the smile quivered away. "I guess this is the start of our real journey . . ."

Cloud needed to be as serious as he could with her about what they were going to do. He knew that out of everyone here besides himself that Tifa was the only one who knew the horrors that were bound to arise in a quest to find and kill Sephiroth.

"It may be dangerous, Tifa," he said. "Are you sure you want to go?"

"I don't know. But . . . I don't have anywhere else to go. So I guess it doesn't matter." She smiled at him. "I should be all right if you keep your promise."

He smiled back at her. "I _will_ keep my promise."

Aeris looked off into the distance, watching the bottom edge of the sun as it slowly crept up past the Cardian Mountains in the distance. "You know what? My mother brought me to Midgar when I was very young. This . . . this will be the first time I've ever left . . ."

Cloud walked over to her. "You'll be all right . . ." He paused for a moment. "Are you worried?"

The flower girl calmly shrugged. "A little . . . no, maybe a lot. But I have my bodyguard, right?"

He smiled and nodded.

Barret, perhaps trying to comfort himself, said aloud, "We told Aeris' mom to go somewhere safe, so Marlene should be safe too."

Cloud patted him on the back. "Yeah, she should be. She said that they'd be heading to Kalm in about a week."

Aeris said to Barret, "She had been saying lately that she didn't want to stay in Midgar anymore, anyways. Maybe it's for the best."

Barret sighed. "And that's where we're headed, right?" He was looking at Cloud.

"Yeah . . . I think it's time that all of you heard my story." Cloud looked around at each of them and then ended on his childhood friend. "You know most of it, Tifa, but I'm sure there's a few details that will even surprise you . . ."

Tifa nodded. She didn't like recalling that time in her life, but with Sephiroth back in the picture it seemed that she didn't have a choice.

A part of her was relieved as well. It seemed that Cloud was finally ready to open up about his past.

3

In silence the team looked at each other, waiting for one of them to say 'Let's go!' or 'Move out!', wanting to leave on their quest as soon as possible yet feeling weary about it at the same time.

Barret broke the silence "We need a group leader for our journey. Of course only me could be the leader." He boxed the air in front of him with his large arms.

Tifa frowned. "You think so . . .?"

Aeris walked under Barret's soaring ego and over to Cloud. After a hesitant look at Barret she said, "It would have to be Cloud."

Barret froze and dropped his hands, dumbstruck.

Nodding her head, Tifa said, "Yeah . . . I think it would have to be Cloud."

Barret stomped his foot on the lifeless ground and yelled, "Awright, whatever!" He knew that they were right. Cloud had been the reason that they were all alive right now. The gunarmed man sat down in the dirt. "But we can't have all five of us strolling down the fields. Split into two parties. When we reach Kalm, meet at the inn. We'll probably cross paths before then anyways." He took a quick glance at the mercenary and then turned away, facing southeast in the direction of their destination.

Cloud looked at Barret and realized that the large man wasn't truly angry with any of them. Like the rest of the team he was simply scared. It wasn't everyday that you decided to embark on a journey that would ultimately decide the fate of the Planet.

Cloud again looked at each person in the team and then put his arm around Barret, who then followed suite and put his arm around Cloud.

"Sorry 'bout that . . ." the gunarmed man said.

"Don't be," Cloud replied. He grinned and took in a deep breath of fresh air. Taking one slow step in the direction of Kalm he said, "Let's go . . ."


	35. 3-1 A House No Longer Hidden

Part 3

Cloud's Story

"_Sephiroth . . ._"

_With anger and aggression he continued to slash away at the pods. _"_You saw it! All of them . . . were human!_"

_Shaking his head, Cloud cried, _"_Human!? No way!_"

_With his sword still drawn Sephiroth faced Cloud. _"_I've always felt since I was small . . . that I was different from the others. Special in some way. But . . . not like this . . ._"

1. A House No Longer Hidden

1

Elmyra Gainsborough awoke to the sound of distant sirens somewhere on the plated metropolis above her.

_Or maybe it was the girl that woke me,_ she thought, and looked down at the small child curled up beside her on the pillow-top bed. She allowed a small smile and thought, _She sure does like to toss and turn._

Whether it was the sirens or the girl that had awoken her Elmyra would never know for sure, but either way she was up now, and was certainly hearing the distant wail and buzz of sirens.

She slid her legs off of the bed and slowly angled her body so that she wouldn't disturb the girl. Her heart delightfully wrenched in her chest when she finally tried to slip away from the child's hold and saw the girl reflexively tug at her nightdress. Elmyra gradually pulled away again and then carefully brushed the girl's hair out of her face before lightly kissing her on her forehead.

_A little, sleeping angel,_ she thought, still looking at Marlene, and felt another soft pang in her heart. She had always thought the same thing about Aeris.

She turned around and took a desultory glance out of the single, bedroom window. It was strange seeing the surrounding piles of garbage now, strange to see the true form of the slums existing around her after so long. She was used to looking at a fragile wall of tousled ivy and thriving trees, and it was sad to think that the luscious green life had all been an illusion.

Standing on her toes she glanced to the left and saw that her gardens remained, along with the tiny pool of water at the end of the crisscrossing paths that her and Aeris had stamped out over the years.

_Some of it's real,_ she thought, and turned away from the window, dismayed to see a pile of refuse only a stone's throw away from the eye-catching yard.

As she turned around to take another glance at the sleeping child, Elmyra gasped as she heard a monumental explosion somewhere overhead.

It was distant, and wasn't quite as loud as the Mako reactor bombings had been, but this new detonation had been vociferous enough.

The fact that the sound of the sirens had suddenly disappeared after the tremendous explosion placed a feeling of pitted discontent within her stomach.

She found that she was holding her chest, her old heart beating triple-time, and was again facing the window, although the view outside told her nothing about the happenings up on the plate.

_It's always like this,_ she thought, a flicker of anger piercing her flowing emotions. _There's no day or night . . ._

When she finally peeled herself away from the square window she turned and saw that Marlene was sitting on the edge of the mattress, tears streaming down her tired and bewildered face.

"Papa?" the little girl quietly asked.

Elmyra walked over to her and wrapped her arms around the child. "It's all right, dear, your father is okay . . ."

But as the little girl cried and squeezed her tighter, Elmyra couldn't quite make herself believe that that was true.

2

It had been two days since she'd heard the explosion, and Elmyra had lost count how many times she'd cursed herself for not having a television anywhere in the house.

Even if Shinra spun the story in a direction that wasn't nearly accurate pertaining to the actual events that had happened she'd at least get to find out what had occurred. And while she wouldn't kid herself that they'd mention Aeris, they might let loose some information about Marlene's father as well as the two others.

She sighed and exhaled a gust of breath.

_The girl's father, Barret._

She'd told him not to get himself killed, and as powerful as a man as Barret was she didn't think that he'd let that happen. But the longer she sat in the house with Marlene the more convincing the large man's probable fate became.

She'd also told him that in any case she would take his daughter and leave the slums. She would head to Kalm where she hoped her friend Susanna still lived with her husband Bastian.

_But wasn't that just something to say at the time?_ she thought. _I didn't really think that he wouldn't be coming back._

She sighed again, and then quickly wiped at her eyes when she heard Marlene coming down the stairs.

"Hi," the little girl said when she saw Elmyra looking at her.

"Hello, dear," Elmyra said back, and tried her best not to frown as she looked at the girl's despondent features.

The girl had been happy, even after her father had left with the others on their mission to free Aeris from the Shinra. But when Marlene had been awakened by the distant explosion, she'd somehow known in her small heart that her father had been involved.

And while Elmyra still believed that Barret lived – she secretly felt that all four of them, Aeris included, were alive – she knew that the girl's hope had vanished along with whatever the tremendous explosion had taken out.

Elmyra had spent most of the past two days trying to renew the girl's sense of hope, but Marlene had only shaken her head time after time and then fallen silent.

The previous day the girl had finally eaten something, which Elmyra was glad to see, but it had always been Elmyra who had to go find Marlene if there was talk to be had.

Now as Marlene climbed down the last of the wooden steps Elmyra felt a slight racing of her heart.

_Maybe the girl is ready to talk. Then we can get ready to try and do something._

Elmyra smiled at her. "Is everything all right, honey?"

The old woman's heart quickened again when the child slowly shook her head, her eyes wide. "No . . ." she whispered.

Elmyra knelt down so that she was face-to-face with the girl and asked, "No? What's wrong, dear?"

Lifting her small arm Marlene pointed past Elmyra and towards the front door. Still whispering and with a minor waver in her voice she answered, "There's . . . there's people . . ." She paused for a second to take a shaky breath. "There's people in front of the house . . ."

3

There was a brief instant where Elmyra hoped that Marlene was simply playing a trick on her - four year old children did such things.

But after the events of the last two days along with the saddened and fearful look on the child's face, Elmyra knew that there was nothing funny to be taken from the child's portentous statement.

"Outside?" Elmyra asked, turning away from the girl and looking in the direction of the pointing finger.

"Yes . . ." Marlene said, slowly nodding.

Elmyra took a step and then paused. "Grab on to my dress, dear, and stay behind me." The girl did as she was told.

They both walked slowly through the kitchen area, past the tiny living space, and then stopped in front of the door.

When Elmyra reached for the handle Marlene said, "Don't open it . . ."

Elmyra retracted her reaching hand as if the knob was on fire. "You're right, that was silly of me."

She then got down onto her hands and knees and crawled to the left of the door, Marlene playing copycat behind her. When Elmyra was directly under the window she slowly lifted her head and stared out through a slit in the curtain.

Even though she was prepared for the sight in front of her she still gasped and dropped back to the floor. Shaking her head she said, "I hadn't even thought about it . . ."

"Thought about what?" Marlene whispered, still on her hands and knees beside the old woman.

"Well . . ." Elmyra said, searching for the right words. "My daughter . . . Aeris . . . you remember Aeris?"

Marlene smiled for the first time in days and Elmyra's emotions jumped joyously at the sight. Marlene replied, "The pretty flower lady . . . she brought me here." She paused, her smile faltering. "Papa and Tifa and Cloud went to go find her . . ."

Elmyra swallowed down a short sob that was attempting to escape her throat and then nodded. "That's right, dear, Aeris is the flower lady. And besides being a flower lady, Aeris also does many other things."

"Things like what?"

"Well," Elmyra began, "magical things I suppose. Do you know what magic is?"

The child nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yup . . . like the Moogles do on TV!"

Elmyra was pleased to see that the look of fear had left the girl's face. "What's a Moogle, honey?"

Marlene grinned. "They're these cute, fluffy animals from Fairyland. Some are big and some are small . . . and they have purple wings! Their black eyes use to scare me, but since I'm a big girl now they don't scare me anymore."

"You _are_ a big girl, Marlene," Elmyra said. She took another peek to make sure that the small crowd in front of the cottage hadn't gotten any closer. When she saw that they were still exploring the gardens and gawking at the house she lowered her head and continued to keep Marlene's mind on happier things. "So these Moogles . . . they do magic?"

"Yup," Marlene said. "They make things big, and they change people into animals . . . and they once turned a tree's leaves purple!"

Elmyra smiled. "Wow, that sounds great!" She took a breath. "Aeris isn't a Moogle, dear, but she does magic like Moogles."

"And that's what you forgot?" Marlene asked.

"What, dear?"

Marlene shrugged. "When you looked out the window you said, 'I hadn't even thought about it'. Is that what you forgot . . . that the flower lady could do magic?"

Nodding, Elmyra replied, "Yes, dear . . . that's what I forgot. You see, I forgot that Aeris used her magic to keep people from coming near the house."

There was a few seconds where Elmyra could see Marlene thinking this over, and then the girl's mouth dropped open. "Oh!" she said, the single world long and exaggerated. Wrinkling her brow she asked, "So . . . what are we going to do, then?"

Elmyra sighed and tried not to shake her head. "Well . . ."

The sound of a fist knocking firmly on the front door silenced Elmyra, and speedily wiped the happiness off of Marlene's face.

4

Elmyra understood the confusion the people in the front yard were most likely feeling. A house and yard that looked more like a natural wonder than a slum dwelling had suddenly taken the place of a gigantic pile of garbage.

The thought didn't make the old woman feel any safer however.

The slums were a dangerous place . . . she'd told Aeris that countless times while the girl was growing up. Yet this was the first time since taking Aeris in that Elmyra felt the old and familiar fear of being a woman in the thick of the slums.

The knocking sounded out again, followed by a gravelly, curt voice. "Is someone in there?"

Beside her Marlene began to weep.

"Is anyone here?" the voice cried. More violent knocking ensued. "I said . . ." The knocking stopped. "Hey! What are you . . .?"

Elmyra then heard a number of raised voices and the sounds of an escalating struggle.

_Thud._

_Thud._

One voice shouted, "It's mine! I found it first!"

_Thud._

Another called, "No way, asshole! You found nothing!"

_Thud-thud._

"It's mine!"

_Thud._

"Damn you!"

The voices and clamor carried on for a minute before someone solidly hit the door. The low _thud_ caused Elmyra to jump and she knew that one of the men had been thrown against the door.

Marlene's soft weeping started to escalate into a panicked, unhealthy crying.

"It's okay, dear," Marlene said, even as another heavy thud sounded on the other side of the front door.

She placed one hand on the child's head and used the other to pull the curtains back. There looked to be about a half dozen men now, all of them fighting one another. Looking to her right she saw that a seventh man was unconscious and bloody on the ground by the door.

Suddenly one of the men looked towards the house and even as fast as Elmyra turned away, she was sure that the man had seen her.

This was confirmed when a fist blasted through the glass of the window and frantically began to search for her head.

Marlene screamed and was on her feet in an instant. Before Elmyra could make a sound a hand was tugging at her throat and she was watching Marlene run towards the back of the cottage.

In shock, truly not accepting that everything in her life had led her to this violent death, Elmyra closed her eyes. She couldn't make a sound.

Above the noise of the men who were again trying to knock down the door, along with the sound of the man's struggle as he choked her, his forearm rubbing erratically on the tiny shards of glass, Elmyra heard a scream from the back of the house.

"No!" she screamed. "Marlene! No!"

With renewed strength she tore away from the grasping, bloody hand, and then ran as fast as she could towards the back of the house.

She stopped when she reached the back den and found that she'd frozen in place.

After a second she again screamed, "No!" her voice barely escaping her bruised and sore throat.

In front of her she saw Marlene in the hands of a stranger.


	36. 3-2 The Journey Begins

2. The Journey Begins

1

As Cloud Strife wandered away from the floating city of Midgar, staring into the open distance in front of him, his thoughts remained fixated on Sephiroth.

_I suppose I knew all along that he wasn't dead . . ._ he thought, a soft yet painful twinge dripping from one side of his head to the other.

When the team reached Kalm he would tell them his story. He would tell them about Nibelheim . . . about Jenova . . . about Shinra . . . and most importantly, about Sephiroth.

_And it will be quite the tale,_ he thought, knowing that he'd never told it before. _Quite the tale . . ._

His new team – his new friends - needed to hear about his past to truly understand what was at stake if Sephiroth was to find the Promised Land.

2

Tifa Lockhart watched Cloud's expressionless face from time to time, knowing wholeheartedly that his thoughts were set on something tragic.

_If it's anything as tragic as what happened back home . . . that will explain a lot._

She had never gone back to Nibelheim after the incident five years ago, but it seemed that the events of Nibelheim were catching up with her nonetheless.

Sephiroth's green, cat-like eyes only left her mind when images of her father came forth. At first she tried to rid her mind of them, but in the end she tried hard to concentrate on those green Mako-drenched eyes, preferring them to the other memories she had of that time in Nibelheim - memories of fire and death.

3

Aeris Gainsborough – whose surname had only come after her Cetra mother, Ifalna, had died - was happy to be breathing in immeasurable amounts of fresh air. She had always heard that the air outside of Midgar was clean and unsullied, but ever since she could remember she had been in the humid, secluded slums and was used to the sticky, warm air that was full of pollution and other dangerous toxins.

Her thoughts drifted back and forth from Ifalna to Elmyra, her two mothers, both who had cared for her with all of their heart. She said a silent prayer for both of them, sending tender words of love and hope.

4

Barret Wallace's thoughts consisted of many different faces. He thought about Marlene, and about Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, his fallen AVALANCHE comrades.

Yet now that he was outside of Midgar and on the open land again his thoughts flowed through all of the faces of the townspeople from his hometown of Corel. In Corel everyone just was as dark-skinned as he was.

"Well . . . almost everyone," he mumbled to himself, picturing Marlene's real father, a man named Dyne Ridgeback, that he had befriended long ago.

He also saw Myrna's face for a brief moment, but he shook the image out of his head, knowing that her dark, beautiful face would only stir up more painful emotions.

5

Nanaki – who was now answering to the name Red 13 - was silent for most of the journey. His thoughts were of his homeland, Cosmo Canyon, and the canyon folk that lived there.

He knew that the red canyon wasn't in any imminent danger, but that there was always a small chance that someone or something would attack the precious land.

Being the canyon's sole protector he would never live down the guilt if he returned home and found everyone dead, the canyon plundered.

He also missed his Grandfather, whom he hadn't been separated with for more than four days his entire life - and during that time his mind had been focused on searching for the lost boy from Gongaga.

Currently he wasn't sure how long it had been since the team of Turks and SOLDIER's had seized him while he was out getting supplies at the nearby village of Gongaga.

He also wasn't sure why he was choosing to hide his true name from the team that had helped him escape from the Shinra building. Canyon culture and tradition prohibited one to reveal their identity to those outside of the canyon's rock, but he imagined that these circumstances were quite different than the situations that the elders had had in mind so long ago.

His chest tightened at that thought, knowing that Bugenhagen was one of the elders now, and he wondered how his Grandfather was coping since the unexpected disappearance of the last Mabnai.

Visualizing the old man's bald head and long, gray-white beard brought a tear to one of his deep-black eyes.

6

And so the team went on across the rolling plains, away from Midgar and towards the small settlement of Kalm. Barret again decided to partner up with Red 13, as he had done in the Shinra building, while Cloud escorted the two ladies.

The plagued and desecrate ground healed more and more as they walked further away from the metropolis. Soon the grassy fields of the plains, which presented sights of lakes and even ocean blue water in the distance, were all around them, some of the green life tall enough to touch with their hands.

By now the sun had completely risen up from behind the distant Cardian Mountains, giving the team warmth and guidance. The mountains were long with deep valleys, yet when compared to Mt. Nibel in height they fell very short. Without much effort you could view the tops of these mountains. Mt. Nibel's wintry pinnacle was always covered with clouds. On the clearest of days the summit was a faint, blurry image, indescribable by the naked eye.

A gentle wind sent waves of grass rippling all around them. Viewing grass that was this thick and green had never appealed to any of them until they had spent a lengthy time behind the walls of Midgar.

Here and there a tree jutted up from the ground, providing the team with a small area of shelter from the fast-rising sun. These breaks were far and frequent however, and needed to be if they expected to get to Kalm by the evening.

Each of them found images of cozy beds and soft pillows entering their minds as they walked, and realized that there had been little sleep to be had lately.

More important than sleep however was the constant, increasing rumble in their empty bellies.

They were all very hungry, unable to fill their stomachs with anything except for the cool water from the occasional pond or lake. And while the water was clear and refreshing, it couldn't quite quench the hunger within them that was gradually turning painful.

7

So they trekked on, anxiously awaiting a hot meal and a good night's sleep at the small, quiet town of Kalm. In the morning they would all listen to Cloud's story.

Looking back Aeris could no longer see any of the barren land of black regolith that surrounded Midgar. She smiled but also blinked away tears from her gentle eyes. Unlike the rest of the team who had traveled outside of Midgar before, she had not been out of the city since she had been a small child. Her only detailed memories were of her time spent in the city, playing on the playground, selling flowers and such.

_Time with Zack . . ._

She smiled again, realizing how ironic it was for her to be missing the one place that she was trying to get away from.

She still missed it all the same.

8

On and on they walked, their legs tiring and in the process of turning into rubber. Without Cloud constantly promising them that the town would come into view at any moment they might have decided to stop and rest for the remainder of the day.

Cloud's legs were tiring the same as everyone else's, but he had other things on his mind now that the team was a good distance away from the floating city.

More and more nowadays strange creatures roamed the lands, seeking food, which on occasion had included an unaware human or two.

He didn't bother staying on full-alert for the entire time however, knowing that the monsters didn't dare go too close to Midgar. Any of the creatures that were found wandering outside of the city were quickly killed – although recent events led Cloud to believe that they weren't all killed, some apparently were instead captured by the Shinra and used for malevolent purposes.

This brought Cloud's thoughts back to Don Corneo and the plunge to the sewer. The Don had had a monster ready to attack at the push of a button, and being a loyal Shinra employee that was probably his privilege.

It had been a long time since the ex-SOLDIER had traveled from town to town on foot and shuddered at the thought of such monsters roving the plains, seeking anything they could use to fill their hungry stomachs.

He took a quick glance at Tifa and then gazed southeast in the direction of their destination.

_A world filled with Shinra-produced monsters . . . I suppose that that will be brought up in my story as well. As a matter of fact, now that I really think about it . . . everything started going wrong after we found out about the monsters . . . that was the start of it all._

9

The rest of the day passed with little to no banter amongst the travelling team. The sun was still up in the sky but on its way down.

Their eyelids felt heavy and their legs were beyond sore at this point. As delicious as the clear, abundant water was it wasn't helping the team's plummeting source of energy.

Before long they had crossed paths with Barret and Red 13 who looked equally as exhausted.

After passing a small creek they rounded a small set of hills. As they climbed up over the last mass of rolling earth they could see Kalm in the distance.

They quickened their pace and held their empty stomachs, anxious to get to the town before it was much later.

10

Before long they each took in a deep breath, pleased to have gotten to Kalm just around suppertime. Barret's stomach literally growled when he saw a man carrying a tray of lamb chops from his small front porch into his house. The smell from the empty smoking grill was glorious.

Everywhere people walked around the cobblestone streets, unaware that an evil plot that could very well take the life of the Planet was underway. The Kalm citizens walked around the streets, working, shopping, and eating, simply doing what they did every other day of their uninformed lives.

Cloud shrugged.

_They look comfortable, and content._

If they had known how little time they might have left they might have been doing things quite differently.

11

As they entered the busiest section of the town, still walking on the blue-gray cobblestone street, they immediately saw the inn that Barret had spoke about across the way.

Looking around the active town, which was no bigger than three miles across, Tifa said, "So this is Kalm?" She looked at all of the happy faces around her, wishing that she could have their jovial ignorance.

"Yeah, this is the quiet town we've been searching for," Cloud replied. "It's nice to see people at ease. Have you ever been here before?"

She shook her head. "No, I came straight from Nibelheim to Midgar and haven't left since. You?"

Looking down the road at the variety of shops he answered, "Yeah, a few times with SOLDIER . . . just for food and stuff."

The houses, which were made of bricks, were each painted in various shades of blue and green. Various shops and the town bar were directly across from where they were standing.

Ahead of them a small staircase led to a petite strip of road that was raised from the rest of the town. Sitting on top of the elevated road were a few more shops and finer houses.

"I don't know about all of you . . . but I am starving," Aeris said, holding her stomach. "I'm not sure if I've ever been as hungry as I am right now."

Barret stepped forward, a smile written across his dark face. "I agree with the lady. Let's get some grub."

It didn't take long for them to find an eatery serving fresh food. The small, welcoming restaurant, known as The Miner, was just to the left of the town's raucous tavern.

"Here for dinner?" a small girl playing hostess asked them, the smile on her face wide and sincere. The smile only faltered slightly when she spotted Red 13, her eyes swooping from his mane to the end of his fiery tail.

"Honey, we're here for whatever you're willin' to give us," Barret said, bending down and smiling back at the girl.

She directed them to a large, circular table, and then with one last smile went back to the front of the restaurant.

They all sighed as they sat down, delighted that they were off of their feet for the first time in many hours.

Aeris asked, "So, Cloud, are you going to tell us your story?"

He placed the glass of water that had already been waiting at the table for them down and replied, "Not yet. I'm hungry and if I'm not mistaken the story will take some time to tell." He glanced to his left. "Right, Tifa?"

She nodded, a blank look in her tired eyes. "Yeah . . ." She broke eye contact as soon as she saw their waitress carrying over a basket of piping hot buttered bread.

They each rapidly stuffed the chunks of bread down their throats, savoring its sweet and delicious honey-wheat flavor, quickly asking for more.

Aeris grabbed a second piece and passed it under the table to Red 13 who was curled up into a ball at her feet. The team was choosing to ignore the various glances they were receiving, whether because of Red 13's appearance or because of the way they were shoving food down their throats.

"Can you believe it, guys?" Barret asked.

"Believe what?" Cloud replied back in question.

"That Shinra is dead! The founder, stabbed in the back and laying face-down on his damn desk!"

"But what about Rufus?" Tifa inquired.

Cloud agreed. "That was a pretty aggressive speech he gave to us on the top of the Shinra building."

"Oh shut up!" Barret yelled. "Rufus is full of shit. He won't last five days tryin' to run that godforsaken company of his father's. So don't give me that crap."

Cloud was ready to debate when he saw a serving dish of barbecued pork chops heading their way in their waitress' hands.

In silent agreement they all decided that is was time to eat, although by the look on Barret's face the proper word would've been 'devour'.

They could always talk later.

12

With their bellies finally full they paid the young waitress and left The Miner, ready for a night of uninterrupted sleep.

The sun had now completely set so the crisscrossing streets of Kalm were now lit up with a weaving pattern of streetlights. Even after all they had been through it still brought chills up his spine when Cloud saw the Shinra logo marked on every post.

Without a word, their eyes half closed, Red 13 and Barret set off for the nearby inn. Aeris shrugged and followed them.

"I'm anxious to hear your story, Cloud," Tifa said.

Cloud turned towards her. "Really? Out of everyone else here you know most of it already."

She frowned and looked at the cobblestone ground. "It's been a long time . . . I feel like I've forgotten a lot of things. The way you talk about the past . . . well, I feel like I forgot a lot of things. So once I hear the story I'm sure it'll all come back to me. Although there are some things I'd still rather forget . . ." She pushed the image of her father out of her mind.

Cloud took one of her hands in both of his and smiled. He knew what she didn't want to remember. He had almost forgotten that he had remembered her father's death just recently, when they were about to blow up the Sector 5 Mako reactor.

_Everything suddenly seems so connected . . ._

He gawked around the quiet town for a minute or two in silence before he realized that Tifa had gone inside the inn. With one last look he walked through the entrance.

As he entered he saw Tifa ascending the stairs to the room above. Cloud nodded at the woman behind the reservation desk as she waved him up the stairs, and then followed Tifa's lead.

After he climbed the silent, wooden stairs he found himself in a large, cozy room with the rest of the team.

Aeris at first was smoothing a thick, pink bed sheet out and then in no time was making herself comfortable on the fluffy bed. "Guess everyone is here now," she said seeing Cloud.

Barret and Tifa were also already in their beds. Red 13 was on a small circular carpet in front of the room's fireplace.

Cloud had never seen them look so exhausted. The walk from Midgar had certainly done a number on their legs but he also realized that they were all emotionally tired and ready for a painless night of sleep, where the only thinking you could do was in your dreams. He hoped that each of them made it through the hours of darkness without nightmares.

He said, "Goodnight," to each of them, turned the room's two lights off, and then sat down on the last empty bed. It might not have been as comfortable as the bed he had slept on in Aeris' cottage in the Sector 5 slums, but it was comfortable enough, and at the moment he could think of nothing else save for sleep anyways.

He barely had time to take his boots off and enjoy the sensation of stretching his liberated feet before he felt sleep overtake him. Lying back onto the bed, his head smoothing into the comfy pillow, Cloud eyelids dropped.

With the exception of the muffled snores coming from Barret the room was silent, each of them drifting into a deep, relaxing sleep.


	37. 3-3 An Unexpected Companion

3. An Unexpected Companion

1

"Johnny!" the little girl screamed, but not unhappily.

If there was one thing that Elmyra thought she'd hear coming out of Marlene's mouth after the girl had been picked up by a complete stranger, it was not this.

"Hello there, Marlene," the stranger said as he lowered the child back to the cottage's floor.

Elmyra, still naively clutching at her sore throat, felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, somewhat because of stunned surprise, and somewhat because of unforeseen elation. The man in front of her had bright red hair that was a bit spiked in the middle, and wore a tattered leather jacket and an even more tattered pair of black jeans.

As she opened her mouth to thank him a tremendous boom sounded out from the front of the house.

She turned around and saw four men walking slowly through the presently-broken doorway of her once-secluded cottage.

"Marlene," Johnny said, a controlled pleasantness in his nasally voice. "Take this lady and stay in the back room."

The little girl nodded her head and without responding grabbed Elmyra's hand and jogged behind Johnny.

2

Johnny took a quick breath as he watched the four men slowly approach him, all of them gazing around at the house's immaculate interior.

"This don't hafta go down like this," one of the men in front of him said, although his balled fists told a different story.

"How do you think it's going to go down, chum?" Johnny asked.

"Well," the man said, "it seems that you've got some attachment to the little girl . . ."

"He's probably sleepin' with her," another one of the men grunted, his crude statement followed by a string of low laughter.

The first man continued, "So we'll let you walk on out of here with all of your limbs still intact . . . along with the girl . . . if you leave us the house and the woman."

Johnny slowly shook his head. "Sorry, can't do that, boys."

"Oh, really?" the man farthest to the back of the approaching group said. "That's too bad."

The first man shrugged. "Yeah, definitely . . . that's too . . ."

Before he could finish Johnny dashed forward, tackling the man, and sent him sprawling into the trio behind him.

One of the men was quickly back on his feet and took a heavy swing at Johnny, missing far above the ducking head, and then received a jab in the stomach for his efforts.

Johnny swiftly pushed the man aside and then raced towards the broken window. He grabbed a chunk of broken glass just as the four men began to run at him.

Raising his arm over his head Johnny flung the shard of glass in their direction. The shining, spinning weapon caught the man in front just below his left eye, and as the injured man screeched and reached for his anguished face Johnny jumped forward and sent a healthy punch into his bleeding face.

The scream that followed was so great that the other three men actually stopped their attack to look at their comrade.

What they saw churned each of their stomachs, for when Johnny had punched their friend the man had also been reaching for the stinging cut on his face. Johnny's fist had connected with one of the man's fingers and had crushed it, forcing it into the open wound below the man's eye. As the man fell to the ground, still screaming uncontrollably, each of them could have swore that they saw the end of the man's chubby finger protruding out of the corner of his left eye socket.

While the men were watching their comrade fall, Johnny whirled around and grabbed another chunk of glass. Waving it back and forth in front of him he said, "Come and get it."

The statement forced the three men to look back and forth from Johnny to the injured man writhing on the ground, who was slowly becoming covered with his own dark blood that was mixing with the colorless puss gently ejecting itself from his finger-stuck eye socket.

After a few cartoonish double takes, the trio of goons ran for the open doorway, leaving behind Johnny and the screaming man.

Johnny suddenly heard a voice calling from the back of the house. "Johnny!" It was Marlene. "Are you okay, Johnny?"

He sighed, happy to hear that she was all right. "I'm fine, Marlene." He looked around at the mess and then focused back on the man in front of him. "Stay where you are . . . don't come in here."

With that said he bent to one knee beside the writhing man and whispered, "When you wake up, I suggest you get yourself to a doctor . . . and that you never come back here again."

Johnny couldn't tell whether or not the man understood what he was saying. He was still shrieking loudly while at the same time trying to gingerly extract his finger from his eye socket.

_Well,_ Johnny thought, _no time like the present . . ._

With his left arm he took hold of the man's wrist and violently tugged, forcing the man's finger from out of his eye and then finally out of the widening wound.

Before the man could scream any louder – _Because the pain must be quite intense at this point,_ he thought – Johnny used his right fist to smash the man in the forehead.

The hoarse screaming swiftly died off.

3

"I can't thank you enough," Elmyra said for the twelfth time.

"Really, lady, it's okay," Johnny replied. Marlene was sitting on his lap and was starting to fall asleep, her eyes drooping more and more as the seconds passed.

"Really though . . ." Elmyra began.

Johnny shook his head and smiled. "If you thank me one more time I'll scream."

Johnny had already dragged the unconscious man – along with three other dazed men that had been lying in the front yard - a fair distance away from the cottage and then had tried his best to clear away the blood and shattered glass from the living room floor. When he'd come back inside Elmyra and Marlene had thanked him over and over again. Elmyra had then gone on to explain why Marlene was here with her, and why the girl's father was up on the plate.

"I will," Johnny said, watching as Elmyra began to open her mouth once again. "I'll scream."

Elmyra blushed and smiled. "Okay, fine. Then how did you end up over here at just the right time?" she asked.

He shrugged, looking from her bruised and swelling neck to her old eyes. "Just at the right place at the right time I guess. I don't know if that's the right way to say it, since I don't really have any place to be right now."

The old woman rubbed at her neck. "What do you mean?"

He took a breath. "About a week ago I finally decided to get out of the slums. I was gonna leave my parents house, leave Midgar, and just go see the Planet again." He paused. "You see . . . I had a setback some time ago – something I don't wanna get into right now – and in the end I ended up be nothing but another slum bum, just gettin' by."

"I don't understand," Elmyra said.

Johnny shrugged. "I've never been the best at explaining shit . . ." He stopped and looked down at Marlene who was still fast asleep. "Explaining _stuff_ . . . but what I'm trying to say is that I left home before it was destroyed . . . before the plate collapse."

"Oh, no!" Elmyra said. "You lived in Sector 7?"

He nodded.

"Oh, John, that's terrible!"

He shook his head again. "It's Johnny . . ."

Elmyra put her hand to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry."

He waved his hand as if to say that it wasn't really a big deal. "I'd been having second thoughts about leaving. I guess . . . well . . ." He paused. "I guess at first you should know that I'm not a good person . . . or at least, I haven't been a good person."

"Johnny . . ." Elmyra said.

He held a hand up to silence her. "No, I may have helped you out an' all but you don't really know me, lady." He was silent again for some time. Finally he said, "But I'm not saying I was a bad person either. It's just that you live your whole life for this one dream, and then you fail at it . . . or rather, it fails you . . . well then what do you do then?"

When it seemed he was actually waiting for a response, Elmyra said, "I don't know . . ."

"Exactly," he said. "And I didn't know either. So I ended up gettin' into stuff that I shouldn't have, seein' stuff that I shouldn't have, doin' stuff that I shouldn't have . . . I just got lost in the loneliness of the slums or something." He shrugged again. "You see, I really use to wanna be something . . . and recently I thought that even after all this time – wow, it's been almost five years now – that I still wanted something more outta my life." He looked around the room. "I don't know why I'm tellin' you all this . . . I guess I just needed to hear it myself."

"You've done a good thing for me, Johnny," Elmyra said, "listening is the least that I can do."

He nodded. "I lost my family and my friends, or at least I had to figure that they'd all died. But I had to check the other sectors before I left on my journey . . . I had to see if there was anyone I knew left."

"You heard Marlene, didn't you?"

"Not at first," he answered. "At first I heard the men in front of your house." He stopped and focused on her. "By the way, this is something you'll have to explain to me . . . I've been through every inch of the slums and I ain't never seen no house like this before." He paused to look around the room again. "Anyways, I saw this jewel of a house, and then saw the men fighting in front of it. It was when they started trying to get inside that I heard a scream." He took a breath. "And while I can't say that I was positive that it was little Marlene, something in my heart told me that it was her." He glanced down at the sleeping child. "I quickly ran around one of the piles of garbage and snuck into your backyard and then into the house." He looked back up at Elmyra. "The rest you know, I guess . . ."

Elmyra was positive that there were certainly parts of this man's story that she did not know, but she wasn't going to ask for the missing pieces at this time.

"Johnny, you've done so much for me," she said. "How could I ever repay you?"

As he slowly stroked Marlene's thick, brown hair, he replied, "Come with me . . ."

"On your journey?"

He nodded. "I need to get away from this city . . . and from what you've told me Barret wants you to leave as well."

Elmyra stared at the red-haired man in front of her, ideas racing through her head. Finally, knowing that thinking too hard on it would only confuse her more, she said, "When should we leave?"

Johnny slowly stood up and out of the chair, Marlene still sleeping in his arms. After a short shrug he said, "I'm thinkin' . . . now."


	38. 3-4 Cloud's Story - I

4. Cloud's Story - I

1

In the morning Cloud woke in the cozy inn to the smell of garlic and cheese. Rubbing his rested eyes he saw Barret, Tifa, and Aeris sitting at the round table across the room. In front of them was a basket of garlic bread, a plate of sausage, and a dish of scrambled eggs that had been mixed with cheese. In the middle of everything was a pitcher of orange juice.

"That smells wonderful!" Cloud said. He sat up and stretched away the stiffness he felt in his back and legs.

Aeris turned and smiled at him. "It's about time you woke up. Barret was getting ready to shake you . . ."

Barret turned and smiled at him, his large mouth full of half-chewed eggs. He swallowed and said, "What Aeris meant to say . . . was that I was only concerned about your sleepiness because I wanted to make sure you got up before all the food was gone." He winked at Red 13 who was lying on the floor, a plate of food in front of him.

"You must remember, of course," the lion said, "that Barret most likely would have eaten all of the food. So there _was_ some sincerity in his statement."

Cloud stood up and yawned. Turning towards Barret he smiled and said, "So I suppose you're looking for a thank you?"

Barret pulled back a chair for Cloud. "Not necessary, white boy. Jes hurry up and eat so we can get on with the day."

Cloud grinned and did just that. He took two chunks of garlic bread, a generous scoop of eggs, and four links of sausage, and then piled them onto his plate. Even as everyone else finished up and removed themselves from the table Cloud dug into his food, refilling his glass with the sweet orange juice more than once.

With his stomach full for the second meal in a row Cloud stood up and looked around the room.

Aeris was now sitting on the bed that Cloud had slept on. The rest of the team took to sitting on the other beds as well as some of the scattered chairs. Red 13, however, had found a cozy spot on the timber floor in front of the fireplace.

Barret rocked back and forth in his chair. Looking at Cloud, who was the only one standing now, he said, "So let's hear your story. You know, the one about Sephiroth and the crisis facing the Planet." He sat up straight. "Let's hear it all."

Cloud looked down at his feet, and then back up at Barret. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Tifa was the only member of the group not looking in his direction. She seemed to be looking at her hands.

_I guess it's time . . ._

Looking around at each and every one of them he started his story. "I . . . I used to want to be like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER. After working with Sephiroth on several missions, we became friends."

"You call that a friend?" Barret asked.

"Yeah, well . . ." Cloud cleared his throat. "He's older than me, and he hardly ever talked about himself. I guess you'd call him a war buddy – not that I joined the company during the war with Wutai, but you know what I mean. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we trusted each other. Until one day . . ."

Aeris repeated, "One day?"

Turning away from the others, Cloud took a quick breath and then continued, "Years after the war, it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any of the growing resistance against the Shinra. That was five years ago . . . I was sixteen."

2

The helicopter slowly descended onto one of the helipads on the upper level of Junon, the massive Shinra military fortress that sat on the westernmost edge of the Eastern continent.

Cloud, suited in his pristine SOLDIER uniform, exited the helicopter with two Shinra guards, Randall and Tego, both of whom were still dressed in street clothes. Last off of the chopper was Sephiroth, who was also wearing his custom-made SOLDIER uniform.

Looking at the perilous fighter, Cloud tried to recall a time when he'd seen Sephiroth not clothed in the black-and-gray uniform, but he fell short in doing so.

Tego looked beyond the airship deck to the left of the helipad and dropped his duffle bag. "This is amazing . . . it's huge!"

He was referring to the massive cannon that struck straight out from the solid cliff of rock that the military base had been built into.

Cloud nodded, content with the knowledge that at least one other person was just as excited as he was to be partaking in the newest Shinra mission. He still wasn't sure after the short flight from Midgar how Randall was going to turn out, and Sephiroth was never one to show much emotion, but at least Tego would be there to share in the same overcoming anxiousness he was feeling.

The young SOLDIER said, "I said the same thing when I came here my first time."

Tego smiled. "I mean . . . I know you said it was going to be awesome, but seriously . . . this is incredible."

"Shinra, Inc. is an incredible company," Randall said, the words sounding a bit uncomfortable coming out of his mouth.

Cloud wasn't sure how to take this, but wasn't going to lose his current high by thinking too much into the seemingly sulky Shinra guard.

Taking his eyes away from Randall Cloud turned and saw Tego giving him a look that said, 'How'd we end up with this guy?', and then turned to see what Sephiroth thought of the astounding scenery.

The black-caped man was already making his way inside the base however, so Cloud took one last look, waved for the others to follow, and then headed for the door.

As he pulled open the door and stepped inside of the base and out of the bright sun Cloud felt a twinge of dizziness overcome him, but he was told to expect that after such fast travel on a helicopter.

And even though the ride had been swift it had still been the farthest Cloud had ever travelled in a chopper. The team had taken off from the pinnacle of the SOLDIER headquarters in Midgar, had barely a minute to see the small town of Kalm before it disappeared into the distance, and then had rapidly flown over the Cardian Mountains, viewing the numerous small settlements along the way. Cloud had been to the settlement of Cardia itself, but even after all of his time travelling the Planet hadn't recognized the other two towns.

He still couldn't understand why anyone would choose to live in one of these places, especially the ones that were so far outside of Midgar that coal was still being used as the main source of energy.

Once inside there were a few brief greetings and then Cloud and the others were pointed towards a locker room down the hallway.

"If you have any need to refresh yourself, I suggest you do it now," a blank-faced man said. "You'll be flying in one of the Gelnika airships . . . and I suppose I won't have to inform you that the military airships aren't accustomed for luxury travel."

Cloud nodded at this. He'd been on one of the large airships once, and other than a cockpit and a dozen burgundy seats the main sections of the Gelnika were reserved for ammunition along with other military equipment.

"This is so sweet," Cloud heard Tego murmur behind him.

"Yes, it is," Cloud said back to him, glad to hear that Tego was still as excited even after the news of their potentially uncomfortable flight over the ocean.

As they walked towards the locker room, Tego said, "The only thing that could make this any better would be by knowing where we're actually going."

Cloud nodded. He agreed wholeheartedly.

Even Randall felt the need to say something to this. "Yeah . . . we really don't know much about anything. Even the actual mission has been kept secret."

Tego said, "Well I'm not so much concerned with that aspect of it, Randall ol' buddy . . . I'm more concerned with the location itself."

"Why's that?" Cloud asked, a hint of a smile developing on his young face.

Tego put an arm around each of their necks. "Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you why." He stopped walking and turned around to face them. "I need to know if there's going to be a surplus amount of ladies to anxiously greet me during my arrival."

Cloud rolled his eyes. He wasn't exactly pleased to hear this, for he himself took the mission very seriously, but at the same time he realized that Tego was simply overexcited, and that when they actually arrived at the set location, his attitudes would take a turn for the better.

Grinning, Tego gestured to each of his arms. "One lady here . . . and one lady here."

Cloud sighed.

_Maybe not . . ._

3

While Cloud and the two Shinra guards took some time to refresh themselves with some beverages and a few snacks that had been left out on one of the numerous tables, Cloud noticed Sephiroth and felt a tiny chill crawl up his spine.

He often saw the black-caped man as he currently was, sitting was his hands on his knees, staring at what seemed to be nothing at all. Cloud normally wouldn't say anything, fearing to disrupt Sephiroth, but on this occasion it seemed different.

He wasn't simply staring at nothing. He was staring at a row of blue lockers in front of him, his blue-green eyes scanning the bold, yellow numbers on the top of each locker.

Cloud couldn't see anything special himself, the numbers he thought Sephiroth were staring at ran from '09 – 18', so he turned to the black-caped man and asked, "Everything alright?"

Sephiroth didn't respond to him, he remained fixated on the numbers.

_Maybe he's not looking at the numbers,_ Cloud thought. _Maybe he's just wondering about the mission like the rest of us . . . unless they've told him something about it that we don't know._

"Sir?" Cloud said, staring into the cold, Mako-infused eyes.

Finally, Sephiroth looked away from the top of the lockers. "Yes?"

"Is everything alright?" Cloud repeated.

Sephiroth nodded and then looked back towards the lockers. "It seems so . . . it's just . . ." He paused and pointed towards the yellow numbers. "The numbers caught my eye for some reason . . . but their significance is lost on me. Does it remind you of anything?"

For an instant Cloud thought that maybe their fearless leader was losing his marbles, but he looked at the lockers anyways.

After a short examination Cloud shrugged and said, "I'm not seeing anything, Sephiroth."

The black-caped man slowly got to his feet and stepped in front of the lockers. Raising his hand he pointed at each of the numbers as he spoke them aloud. "Two . . . One . . . Three . . . One . . ."

Cloud could only stare. He could see the numbers himself, the '2' from the twelve being the first number and the '1' from the fourteen being the last, but it meant nothing to him.

Sephiroth continued, "Strange . . . it feels significant to me for some reason." He paused and turned to Cloud, an expression that wasn't quite a smile forming on his pale face. "But I see that it still means nothing to you."

Shrugging, Cloud said, "Sorry . . . I guess I'm just missing something . . ."

Sephiroth shook his head. "No matter . . . it's probably nothing anyhow." He turned to the other side of the room where Randall was laying on a bench and Tego was looking at himself in a mirror. "Are you all ready to go?"

Cloud nodded, and then Randall sat up and did the same.

Tego spun around from the mirror, and then nodded and said, "Let's go, Mocha Joe."

Sephiroth only stared at him, although Cloud had cracked a grin, knowing what Tego was again trying to do.

Tego remained facing Sephiroth and smiled. "Let's get outta here, Vladimir."

Again, Sephiroth only stared.

"Okay, okay," Tego said, "this one'll get ya." He clapped his hands together. "Let's oogle, Human Moogle."

When Sephiroth's empty stare remained unchanged Tego said, "Someday . . . I _will_ get you to smile."

Sephiroth turned towards the exit, but before he left the locker room he looked over his shoulder and said, "I'll smile . . . the day your tiresome mouth stops prattling." He then exited the room.

Cloud raised his eyebrows and looked at Tego. "Maybe it's time to stop with the get-Sephiroth-to-smile jokes . . ."

Unfazed, Tego shrugged. "Perhaps . . . but only time will tell." He then turned towards Randall. "Right? Now let's get leavin', Steven . . ." He winked at Cloud as he headed for the exit.

4

The officer had been right to warn Cloud and others about the flight to their destination. Besides a bit of banter with a third Shinra guard that they had been joined by in Junon – the man called himself John, and although Cloud thought him a bit strange because he was already suited in his blue uniform (along with the standard-issued mask), he seemed alright after a while – the flight had been long and boring.

It was the landing that was the most memorable moment so far in Cloud's journey from Midgar.

Nomla, a fairly populated settlement on the western end of the Western continent, was apparently fifty miles or so from their final destination, so it was here that they were finally going to be equipped with whatever they needed for the mission ahead.

And when Cloud saw what he was going to be equipped with, he almost fainted.

_Finally,_ he thought. _I finally get some materia._

If you had asked him later what the three guards had received Cloud would not have been able to tell you. Everything in his entire being was fixedly focused on the small, blue orb of materia that was slowly being placed in the palm of his hand.

_It's a Lightning orb,_ he thought, and tried his best to keep from squirming with excitement.

He thanked the military officer that had handed it to him and then turned to see what Sephiroth was receiving.

The black-caped man wasn't in sight however.

As if understanding what Cloud was wondering, Randall stepped forward and said, "He followed one of the suited men into the tent over there."

"Seems we're finally going to learn what we're all doing out here," Tego said.

Cloud turned to where they were looking and saw a billowing, camouflaged tent beyond an old military truck.

"Finally," the new SOLDIER whispered, anxious to get wherever they needed to be, anxious to try out his materia.

_My materia,_ he thought, and felt a warm rush flood his body.

Tego looked at Cloud and said, "You got some materia, didn't you?" When Cloud nodded, Tego continued, "You lucky son of a bitch!"

The guard from Junon, John, still masked, leaned over Cloud's shoulder and said, "Let's see it, big time SOLDIER."

Cloud grinned. "Alright . . ." He lifted his arm from his side and opened his squeezed fist. The blue orb that sat in his palm received numerous gasps.

"You are so goddamn lucky," Randall said. "I'll probably never get any materia . . . I can't pass the SOLDIER exam."

Tego laughed. "I hear you there, brother . . . I received my third rejection letter in the mail just last week."

Randall looked over at the masked guard. "How about you, John? Have you ever tried to get into SOLDIER?"

After a moment of silence, John nodded his head and replied, "Yeah . . ."

"I'm guessing you were unsuccessful," Tego said good-humoredly.

Turning towards him, John grunted, "I would think the answer to that would be pretty damn obvious."

It seemed at first that the mood of the group had changed after that statement, but then John grumbled, "Idiot . . ."

Tego laughed out loud. "Indeed, kind sir, I've never been mistaken for those of great wisdom. Although I do have one more question . . ."

"Yes?" John said.

"What's with the mask?" This question was asked simultaneously by Cloud, Tego, and Randall, all of them knowing that that was going to be the question asked.

John laughed. "The mask?"

"Yeah," Cloud said.

"I just had surgery . . . and it's best that I keep the mask on."

"Oh," Randall said. "Surgery . . . on your face?"

John nodded. "Remember how we just figured out that I didn't make it into SOLDIER?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Well," John said, "I suffered a bit of an accident during the Battle portion of the exam."

"A bit of an accident?" Cloud questioned.

"Yeah . . . a fist moved my nose almost two inches across my face."

Tego made a face. "Yikes . . . sounds icky."

John shrugged. "It's over now . . . and they're letting me partake in the mission now that I'm healing."

Ahead of them they saw Sephiroth exit out of the tent.

Taking a breath, Tego said, "Looks like it's time . . ."

John said, "Yes, it does."

As the group began walking towards the black-caped man, Tego looked over his shoulder at John and said, "You seem like a good guy, John, and I'm sorry about your face."

"Thanks, I guess," John said.

Tego smiled. "But I'm guessing that as bad as it is it still can't make you uglier than our dear friend Randall over here."

"Bite me," the subject of the joke spit out, but a smile was on his face nonetheless.

Cloud heard all of this, but his main focus was still on the small, blue orb that he held in his hand.

_Materia . . . finally . . ._

5

In the back of the military truck that they had seen near the tent, on an old, bumpy, and almost-forgotten road, Cloud paced back and forth. He wasn't sure if he'd ever felt so anxious in his entire life and found that he was looking up towards the front of the truck again.

The windshield wipers did little to defend against the constant pounding of rain that had started a few minutes before. The driver, whom none of them knew, shouted his growing anger out loud every time that he hit a bump in the increasingly hard-to-see road.

Next to Cloud were the three Shinra guards, all sitting on a pair of wooden crates. On a third crate sitting very still and calm was Sephiroth.

Once his attention was turned away from the front of the truck Cloud again found himself looking at Sephiroth's modified SOLDIER uniform. The elite head of SOLDIER's long gray hair flowed down around the black and gray outfit. Below the black pants were jet black boots. The only vivid color that you could ever find on Sephiroth was the greenish-blue color that came from his cat-like Mako-drenched eyes.

Cloud looked away and then continued to pace in the back of the truck. "It sure is raining hard." No one responded. He walked over to Randall, who had been complaining about motion sickness. "Hey, how are you doing?"

Randall made a dismissive motion with his hand before lying down on the crate. "I'm all right, you know how it is."

"I wouldn't know, actually," Cloud said to the guard. "I've never gotten sick from being on the road." He turned and walked towards one of the other guards on the next crate, listening as the rain outside dropped from the sky at an accelerated tempo. He asked, "Everything okay?"

Tego nodded, and for the first time since they'd met the man remained silent. Cloud turned and started pacing again.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Sephiroth looked up at him, shaking his head slightly. "Hey." Cloud turned and looked at him. "Settle down." His thin, green eyes never stared at you, they stared through you.

Cloud, still antsy and tired of being cooped up in the back of the truck, said, "They gave me some new materia, I can't wait to use it!"

Sephiroth smirked and looked up at him. "Just like a kid . . ."

This remark immediately halted Cloud's actions. He did not want to appear like a kid in front of Sephiroth. This man was the reason Cloud had joined SOLDIER in the first place. Standing straight up and facing Sephiroth he asked, "You going to brief us about the mission?"

The three guards glanced over at the speaking men, suddenly interested.

"This isn't a typical mission," Sephiroth replied.

"Good!" Cloud yelled, breaking his stillness.

Sephiroth looked at him curiously. He asked, "Why do you say that?"

Cloud walked towards the back of the truck and looked out of the foggy window. "I joined SOLDIER so I could be like you. But by the time I made First Class, the war was already over." He turned around to face Sephiroth, his childhood hero. "My big hopes of becoming a hero like you ended with the war. That's why I always sign up whenever there's a big mission . . . kind of a way to prove myself." He bent over and looked eye to eye with him. "Say, how do _you_ feel, Mister Sephiroth?"

Letting out a small chuckle, Sephiroth smiled, which was something only a handful of people had seen, and replied, "I thought you wanted a briefing . . ." Cloud stood up and crossed his arms. Sephiroth continued, "Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. There have been reports of it malfunctioning . . . and producing brutal creatures."

"Creatures?" Tego asked.

Sephiroth nodded and then shook his head when he saw the excitement building up in Cloud's eyes. "First, we will dispose of the creatures. Then we'll locate the problem and neutralize it."

Cloud tapped his foot on the floor anxiously. He had heard rumors about monsters running wild from others during his stay in Cardia a month ago. He wasn't quite sure if he understood what the things really were, but he'd heard enough people refer to them as if they were talking about the nightmarish beings from horror skits on television or from children's novels. "Brutal creatures . . . where?"

"The Mako reactor at Nibelheim."

Cloud's eyes widened. "Nibelheim! That's where I'm from."

Sephiroth nodded his head. "Hmm . . . hometown."

Unexpectedly the truck jolted towards the left, almost flying off of the broken down road. The driver steered the truck back into the middle of the road and slammed on the brakes. "Sir, something strange just crashed into our truck!"

Sephiroth stood up, another one of his rare smiles gracing his thin, pale face. "That would be one of our monsters . . ."

6

The two members of SOLDIER, Cloud and Sephiroth, grabbed their swords and jumped out of the truck while the others stayed inside.

Cloud looked quickly at the handle of his sword where the materia orb had been inserted, although he couldn't look for long.

The creature was dark jade with monstrous, yellowing teeth. It had a large, swooping tail with spikes of bone decorated on its sides. Beneath its yellow eyes was a disfigured nose where small puffs of smoke were slowly billowing out from. On its green, scaly back it had two large, misshapen wings.

_Wow . . ._ Cloud thought, and then made a quick decision.

Face to face with the huge dragon-like creature Cloud ran towards it, trying hard to prove himself to Sephiroth. He took a suicidal swipe at the beast with his blade, connecting with one of its front legs.

The monster roared, bellowing foul-smelling smoke, and then slashed at Cloud with the injured leg.

Cloud ducked and turned around to run back to Sephiroth, suddenly understanding that he was no match for the beast.

When he made it back to Sephiroth, the beast still holding its ground and growling, Cloud yelled, "What should we do? Should I use the materia?" He paused, and held his sword out in front of him as the creature took a mighty step forward.

Sephiroth only stared, not flinching an inch.

The black-caped man turned away from the beast and looked deep into Cloud's eyes. "Do you know how to properly use the orb?"

Cloud wanted to say 'yes', he wanted so badly to impress Sephiroth. But when the green creature took another step towards them and raised its gnarled, clawed paw in their direction, Cloud screamed, "No . . . I don't think I can!"

Both he and Sephiroth jumped back, avoiding the claw, and then ran a few paces to the creature's left.

"Watch and learn, then," Sephiroth said. He then took out his long, thin sword and gestured to his own Lightning orb. Before Cloud could even tell whether or not Sephiroth had begun the summoning, a parade of electricity shot out of the black-caped man's hand.

The screeching monster's large muscles turned to jelly in seconds, forcing its remaining skeletal figure to slowly tip over to the soggy ground. Sprinting past Cloud with his sword extended, Sephiroth gave the monster a finishing blow with his long blade, slicing the remains of the melting creature into two violently separated halves.

The mighty mouth of the beast fell silent. What was left of the body was still.

Cloud turned towards Sephiroth and found that he was speechless.

The black-caped man sheathed his sword, his demeanor showing no signs that he felt what he had just done was anything special, and then said, "Let's get back on the truck . . . we must be close to the town."

Cloud could only nod as he watched Sephiroth leisurely make his way back to the military truck.

_I _will _watch and learn,_ he thought, and then raced through the pouring rain towards the truck.


	39. 3-5 A Day Off

5. A Day Off

1

Mickey Pitts, affectionately known as Rude to his fellow comrades, walked through the neon-lit paths of Wal-Market in Sector 6, once again thinking about his duties as a Shinra employee, and more specifically as a Turk.

This was not to say that Rude was having second thoughts about the shady deeds he was sometimes involved with. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Today was one of those rare days when he had absolutely nothing to do, and he had the most difficult time coping with the obligation-free hours.

_You'd think with everything under the sun happening lately that I'd have been assigned to something,_ Rude thought, although he knew that he had the time off because of the promotional ceremony for the new blonde Turk, Elena Poplar.

He sighed, feeling a slight pinch of silent rage coarse through him. Rude was always under control of his emotions, yet he still felt a powerful tug of pure annoyance for not at least being allowed to attend the short ceremony.

He'd tried to visit Reno, knowing that by now he'd be out of the hospital – the injuries he'd received from fighting AVALANCHE on the pillar, especially the damage to his face, had been quite bad – but Reno had simply shooed him away, leaving him standing at the doorstep with his blood warming in his veins.

A voice brought Rude out of his dazed and thought-filled stroll. "How 'bout a meal, buddy?" The man was holding a dozen or so menus for the tented restaurant behind him. "Free pharmacy coupons if you get the Special!"

Rude shrugged, not responding to the brightly-dressed man, but then stepped inside the restaurant.

The place wasn't very crowded, so he found a seat at the counter that was separated from the thick of the patrons. Before the large man in white behind the counter could open his mouth, Rude said, "Special."

It was warm in the restaurant, but Rude didn't take his suit jacket off. There was a certain pride felt when wearing the Turk uniform, but its main purpose was to be seen by the slum-dwellers, making them understand their place compared to his without a word of conversation. Rude hated the pests that occupied the dump under the plate, always filthy, always aggravating, and by the sheer number of them he could assume that they were always breeding.

But he hadn't come down to the muggy slums under the city on his day off to eat shitty food or to build up his tolerance to the local vermin. He'd come down because his sense of pride and duty towards the Shinra went farther than he completely understood.

Instead of giving in to the idea of doing nothing for an entire day, Rude had brainstormed after being turned away from his healing comrade, Reno Joolston. And it really hadn't taken that long to realize what he could do to kill some time while still performing his heartfelt obligation for Shinra, Inc.

_Corneo's,_ he had thought, remembering that the report had said that the repulsive man had gone missing after spilling the beans about the plate collapse to a few of the AVALANCHE members.

His mansion in Sector 6 had been checked by a handful of Shinra guards, but that had been days ago.

_And besides,_ he'd thought, _I'm not just a measly Shinra guard . . . I'm a professional . . . I'm a Turk._

So even after he'd been lectured again and again that time off the job was just as important as time on the job, he'd made his way down to Sector 6 and had entered the golden mansion that sat at the top of Wal-Market.

"Here you go," the large man on the other side of the counter said, snapping Rude out of his daze.

Looking down Rude saw that the man had placed today's Special in front of him – although from its appearance there seemed to be nothing special about it.

"What is this?" Rude growled, staring at the liquid-soaked square of meat that sat next to an ice cream scoop of chunky mashed potatoes.

"The Special," the man said, and then quickly walked to the other end of the serving counter.

Rude considered complaining, but knew it would be a lost cause. For all he knew this sorry excuse for food was probably the best they offered down in this cesspit of living.

He gingerly bit into the meat, and while he vigorously chewed at its toughness, he shook his head.

_I should have listened,_ he thought. _I should have just gone home and watched some television or something . . ._

He'd found nothing in Corneo's golden mansion, and the task had only ended up killing roughly fifty minutes of his day.

After he swallowed the chewy meat substance he took a deep breath, trying to relax, trying to keep the growing anger inside of himself.

Tasting the sickly-white potatoes did not help to keep him relaxed. He spit out the chunky spuds and then stood up. He contemplated grabbing the plate of food and chucking it at the server, but he opted to just leave the restaurant. It did not surprise him that no one demanded any gil from him as he exited the tented bistro.

_What a waste of a day,_ he thought as he walked back towards one of the new service elevators that had been put into place after the plate incident. _I've accomplished nothing . . ._

It was then that he spotted three people exiting a shop across one of the hard, dirt paths.

There was a man with red hair and a filthy leather jacket.

_Not familiar._

There was an old woman with a long, brown dress on, her short hair done in the back of her head.

_Not familiar._

And there was a young girl with a purple dress on, her pale face outlined by thick, dark hair.

Rude gasped.

_Now _she_ looks familiar._

Quickly grabbing for his phone and thinking that the day wasn't going to be wasted after all, Rude made a phone call.

2

A half hour after the promotional ceremony had ended – a rather abrupt ending because of the phone call Tseng had received – a couple of Shinra guards were standing in front of the Shinra building with the leader of the Turks, Tseng Stehr, and the newbie of the Turks, Elena Poplar.

"Quiet," Tseng said to the murmuring noise in front of him, hearing his phone ring for the second time that afternoon. "Yeah?" he said, answering it.

It was Rude again. "I'm still following them. It seems that they were in Wal-Market to pick up some supplies."

"Where are you now?" Tseng asked.

Rude was silent for a moment, and then replied, "On their trail towards the edge of the sector . . ."

"I'll meet up with you in a bit," Tseng said, ending the call.

When Rude had called the first time Tseng had felt a tremendous sensation of relief work through him.

_This could perhaps change the President's mood,_ he'd thought.

He put his phone back into his suit jacket's breast pocket and then looked at Elena as well as the two guards in front of him. There was a gleam in Elena's eyes that he was happy to see.

_She wants to prove herself._

Tseng said, "Here's the situation. Three citizens have been spotted in the Sector 6 slums. While we're not positive of the identity of the male, one female has been confirmed to be the adoptive mother of the recently escaped Ancient and the other has been confirmed to be the adopted daughter of the leader of AVALANCHE. The three individuals were seen gathering supplies in Wal-Market and are now heading towards the edge of the slums. It can only be assumed that they are going to meet up with the rebels of AVALANCHE. As you know there is only one exit out of the slums from Sector 6, so we're going to intercept the individuals outside of the Midgar walls."

"Are we to apprehend, or are we to eliminate?" Elena said, the prideful gleam still in her eyes. The gleam had probably been there ever since the excellent work she had done setting up the canyon creature's capture in Gongaga.

Tseng answered, "We're to apprehend. We're going to need them alive in order to speak with them about the whereabouts of the other rebels."

Elena shook her head. "But I thought the President just told us that the only thing that mattered right now was finding Sephiroth . . . because of where he's going to lead us."

"He did say that," Tseng said. "And soon enough that will be our main task at hand . . . but the President is young, Elena, and he doesn't understand the importance of eliminating the rebels of AVALANCHE. He's looking out for the future of Shinra, Inc. by attempting to follow Sephiroth . . . but he doesn't understand how meddlesome these rebels are, and how easily they could hinder potential plans."

Shrugging, Elena said, "Well then, whatever you say. You're the boss . . ."

Tseng said, "Good. Now does everyone understand what their duties are?" When the three people around him nodded, he said, "Alright . . . now let's get to the helicopter."

3

There had a been a bit of a dispute about where to head after leaving Midgar, but in the end it was decided that they'd head to Cardia instead of Kalm.

Elmyra had told Johnny that she had friends in the nearby town but Johnny had explained again and again that the Shinra would search that town first, and that it would be best to go anywhere other than Kalm.

So after gathering some food and a few other supplies from Wal-Market, Johnny, Elmyra, and Marlene made their way towards the edge of Sector 6.

There had been a few occasions that Johnny had been sure he'd heard someone following them, but it seemed pointless that anyone would be following them towards the edge of Midgar, and then subsequently towards the open fields beyond.

"We're here," Johnny said, as they rounded a group of tattered houses.

"This is it?" Marlene asked. "The outside world?"

"Just beyond that door, honey," Elmyra said, pointing to the thick, metal door built into the towering outer wall of Midgar.

They passed the single Shinra guard stationed at the door, but he barely glanced at the trio. It didn't matter who exited Midgar, it mattered who entered.

With the push of a button the metal door began to slowly swing outward, revealing a black, desolate ground and a blue, shining sky.

"It's wonderful," Marlene said, a smile on her face. She took an exaggeratedly deep breath. "The air . . . it feels so nice!"

"Yes, it does," Elmyra said, knowing that the further away from the metropolis that they got the better the air would feel as it entered their lungs.

Johnny pointed into the distance. "We're heading that way. We might as well go in as straight of a path as we can. It'll save us some time . . . and it'll keep us off of the main road."

"That sounds like a good idea," the old woman said.

The three then began an arduous pace . . . that ended only minutes later.

4

Rude watched the trio exit out of Midgar and then reached for his phone.

"They're out of the city," he said.

On the other end of the line, Tseng said, "Good, give them two minutes and then follow them again. We'll land somewhere in front of them in a couple minutes."

"Sounds good," Rude said, and then smiled. He felt good inside, knowing that his day off had turned into something much greater.

5

Elmyra was already tiring because of the steady walk on the solid, bleak ground. She looked towards Johnny. "How long do you suppose it will take to reach Cardia?"

The red-haired man in front of her stopped and shook his head. "I don't think we're going to have to worry about that anymore."

"What are you . . .?" Elmyra began, but then figured it out for herself.

Looking up the trio could see a helicopter descending out of the sky thirty or so yards in front of them.

"Well, let's turn back!" she screamed, and turned around while grabbing for Marlene's small hand.

But when she turned around she saw a bald-headed, suited man approaching them from the giant Midgar wall.

"No!" Elmyra screamed. "What are we going to do?" She looked pleadingly at Johnny, but the red-haired man seemed to have frozen up. "Johnny!?" she screamed. "We can't just let them take us!"

"Be quiet," Johnny said, his tone harsh and cold.

Elmyra looked back and forth from the helicopter to the approaching Turk and shouted, "Be quiet!? What do you . . .?"

Cutting her off, Johnny said, "You need to be quiet, or we're all going to get killed."

Now Elmyra couldn't take her eyes off of Johnny Firnock.

_What is he thinking?_

She then noticed that Johnny's eyes weren't focused on either the helicopter or the approaching man.

When she scanned the distance where it seemed Johnny was looking she at first couldn't see anything. Signs of life poked through the dead earth here and there, and became thicker the further out that she looked, but there was nothing to stare at.

"Johnny, what?" she asked, still looking into the distance.

The wind pushed the long grasses to and fro, rippling the height of the plants.

Elmyra gasped.

_The wind,_ she thought. _The wind isn't the only thing moving the grass._

She pulled Marlene closer to her trembling body.

_Something . . . something out there is moving . . ._

6

Rude had just enough time to think about how right thing's had been going, when things began to go very wrong.

The helicopter had landed and Tseng, the new girl, Elena, and two guards had quickly exited.

_So far so good._

He himself had then grabbed at the old woman, and had been surprised to see that there was no struggling to be found.

_It's like they want to get caught,_ he'd thought.

He was just about to voice this thought out loud when he heard one of the guards say, "Oh, shit!"

Out of the right corner of his eye there was suddenly blindingly-fast movement.

It was then that the red-haired man and the old woman, now holding the young girl, began to struggle.

Rude turned his head and saw an abomination of life racing towards the group.

The monster was cancerous black and running on four rubbery limbs that almost appeared to be dripping. It was long, perhaps the height of two men, and trailing behind it was a puss-dripping tail, the scattered tufts of hair on its length soaked with the seeping yellow goo.

'_Oh shit' is right,_ Rude had time to think as he watched the creature's bloodshot eyes thin while its greenish-yellowing mouth stretched open. Most of its teeth that stuck up out of ruby-bleeding gums were jagged and disintegrating. From the look of the monster's rippling and empty belly the razor-sharp teeth most likely hadn't been used for some time.

The beast leaped at him, and he threw himself to the ground, dragging the old woman and the girl with him.

Instead of stopping, the dark, starving creature charged forward towards Tseng, who took a hit in the stomach from one of the swinging, dripping limbs.

Rude could see Elena and the red-haired man running towards the chopper. He then saw the red-haired man turn quickly and send a balled fist into the new Turk's face. Elena fell shakily to the ground.

Tseng was now up from the ground, dodging the clumsy attacks from the monster, and then ran towards Rude. "Get up," he screamed, and Rude immediately did so.

A terrible holler sounded out and as the two Turks pulled the old woman to her feet they turned around to see one of the Shinra guards fall to the ground, one of his legs disappearing into the creature's mouth. Using its shaky limbs the creature shoved the guard further into its maw, snapping some of its own teeth off in the process as it vigorously chewed the dying man.

On the other side of the grotesque demonstration Rude saw the red-haired man attempting to get inside of the helicopter.

"Tseng!" Rude shouted. "The helicopter!"

Tseng looked quickly, flinching at the combined sounds of snapping bone and pleasurable gulping coming from the monster, and then shouted, "Get Elena! I'll deal with the man!"

Rude nodded and ran around the beast, his speed doubling when he saw its dark face and bloodshot eyes connect with his own.

"Elena!" he shouted, pulling her up from the ground.

Once on her feet, she said, "I'm fine! What the hell is that thing!?"

"Now's not the time!" Rude said, and then turned towards the beast. The guard's lifeless head was now the only thing sticking out of its bloody mouth. "We have to get the woman and the girl!"

"Where are they!?" Elena screamed, the creature had slowly begun to turn in their direction.

Rude's heart jumped in his chest.

_Where are they? They are . . ._

But then he realized that they weren't on the ground in the spot Tseng and him had left them in.

"Shit!" He then realized something else. "Where is the other guard?"

He didn't have time to look. The monster suddenly roared, and then jumped in their direction. Twisting its neck the beast violently coughed blood, and then seconds later vomited half of the swallowed guard out of its mouth and onto the ground.

Behind Rude Tseng grabbed the red-haired man by his jacket and threw him off of the side of the helicopter and to the ground. The man struggled, reaching for Tseng's legs, but the leader of the Turks quickly lifted his leg and then slammed his foot down on the man's face.

The door to the helicopter suddenly opened, and Tseng yelled, "What the!?"

Looking up he saw the other Shinra guard already inside of the chopper. "Sir, throw him in!"

"What the hell were you doing?" Tseng screamed. "Hiding in there?"

"No, sir!" the guard screamed over the sound of the engine as it revved up. "I didn't want the man to escape . . ."

"Whatever!" Tseng shouted, and then threw the red-haired man into the helicopter. "Make sure he doesn't come to his senses!"

"Yes, sir!"

Tseng then turned around and saw Rude and Elena running towards him, the creature following them, but at a slow pace.

"Get inside!" Rude screamed.

Behind him the creature was again coughing, spitting out the guard's blood, as well as its own. Every time that it took a step forward it began to cough a little harder and then aggressively began to choke.

Tseng looked past the convulsing beast. "What happened!? Where the hell are the other two!?"

"We don't know, sir!" Elena screamed, her composure lost as she raced past her leader and then dove into the helicopter.

"Well we can't just leave without them!" Tseng shouted, scanning the area but spotting nothing save for the choking monster. One of its back limbs separated at the knee as it tried to jolt forward and it let out an ear-piercing shriek. When it opened its wide mouth to scream it suddenly coughed again, and then a long bone, most likely one of the guard's leg bones, popped out and landed on the ground.

Rude saw the beast's eyes open wide, the obstruction in its throat gone. As it raced towards the helicopter the bald Turk shouted, "We have to go! We'll die if we stay here any longer!"

It only took Tseng a second to see that the charging, black creature was more than they could handle. "Go!" he said, and then turned back towards the helicopter.

Once the two men were inside Elena screamed, "Take off!"

The Shinra guard nodded and started the propellers.

"Shit!" Tseng said, and braced himself as the monster crashed into the side of the chopper.

It's frantically searching head broke through the door and whipped back and forth, brutally biting at the air. When it couldn't find a target it writhed again, shaking the helicopter.

"Take off!" Tseng screamed.

"I can in a few more seconds!" the guard yelled, his voice cracking as he turned and saw the monster's head whipping up and down on the side of the chopper, the metal from the breaking door digging into its neck.

"Elena, get back!" Rude said, seeing the new recruit inching towards the violently shaking head.

The blonde-haired Turk grabbed a knife from off of her belt and slammed it through the oozing snout in front of her.

The monster immediately thrashed forwards, knocking her to the floor with his knife-pinned mouth. A second later, the chopper took to the skies.

For a few moments the beast clung to the edge of the helicopter as it climbed higher and higher into the sky, but then a larger section of the wrecked door broke off and the monster plummeted back to the barren ground below.

After a few deep breaths could be heard all around the interior of the chopper, Rude shook his head and said, "Today was suppose to be my day off . . ."

Elena smiled. "Don't you dare complain . . . this was my _first _day . . ."

However, the leader of the Turks was _not_ smiling. "Shut up, both of you!" Tseng snapped. After the other Turks immediately silenced he gestured towards the unconscious red-haired man on the floor. "You better hope that he can give us some answers . . . or we're all going to be in a shitload of trouble . . ."

7

Lying flat on the ground amongst the same patch of thick grass that the creature had been hiding in, Elmyra and Marlene caught their breaths as they watched the helicopter fly back towards the floating metropolis.

"Johnny . . ." Marlene whispered, her voice filled with emotion.

Elmyra hugged her, holding her close. "I know, honey . . . I know."


	40. 3-6 Cloud's Story - II

6. Cloud's Story – II

1

Cloud couldn't shake away the image of Sephiroth electrocuting the monster on the old road with such ease, and then proceeding to slice it in two.

"Sephiroth's strength is unreal," he emphasized to the listening team. "He is far stronger in reality than any story you might have heard about him."

Barret raised his left hand, as if he were attending a class. "Yo! I ain't all that familiar with materia and what not, but doesn't it take a really huge amount of power to summon the magic?"

Hearing the word 'magic' caused Cloud to laugh. "Magic, huh?"

"What?" Barret asked. "I say somethin' funny?"

Cloud shook his head and waved his hand in front of him. "You're right, Barret. It does take an awful lot of strength and concentration to use materia . . . especially with the amount of force that Sephiroth displays."

The gunarmed man said, "And he wasn't fazed at all after killing the monster?" A look of shock sat on Barret's face.

"I see that you're starting to understand our dilemma," Cloud said.

"Dilemma . . ." Tifa echoed, and her spacey look earned her a few glances from the others in the room.

After a moment Aeris sat up on the bed. "So . . . where do you come in?"

"Me?" the ex-SOLDIER asked. "I was mesmerized by the way Sephiroth fought. I wanted to be like him more than ever." He took a deep breath. ". . . And then we reached Nibelheim."

2

"For once," Sephiroth said, staring hard at Tego, "be silent. We'll be here for a while and you'll have plenty of time to run your mouth. But for now, as we enter the town, show some class, and understand that the townspeople who look upon you will be viewing you as a symbol of Shinra, Inc."

Bouncing off of the back of the military truck, Tego shrugged and said, "No problem, man."

"Good," Sephiroth said, and Cloud watched the silver-haired man take a deep breath and physically relax. With a stern look of content on his face, Sephiroth nodded towards the distant iron gates and said, "Let's go."

The leader of SOLDIER then proceeded to lead the group to the entrance of the valley town.

The sky was overcast, yet the murky atmosphere fit the ominous yet beautiful scenery of the town. The old foot-worn path that the group walked on gradually transformed to thick, spaced cobblestones. An old pick-up truck with flattened tires sat against the side of the first house they passed – Cloud remembered that the thick-walled and thick-roofed house belonged to one of Tifa's old friends - and not for the first time since learning that he would be arriving at Nibelheim for the mission he pictured Tifa's face in his head.

_I hope she's still in town . . ._

Cloud looked through the old gates and saw a small crowd of people gathered just in front of the courtyard. He could also see the old well where he'd met Tifa late at night so many years ago just beyond the crowd. What he couldn't see was his old childhood friend, Tifa. He knew that hoping to see her had been foolish - who knew where she could be these days – but he had hoped all the same. He had hoped that she would've heard about SOLDIER coming to town, and would've been anxiously awaiting her proud friend with the rest of the gathered crowd.

But now that he looked a little harder, still slowly approaching the gates, Cloud could see that there really weren't that many people in sight. In fact, with the knowledge that SOLDIER would soon be arriving in the valley town, Cloud had assumed that the majority of townspeople in Nibelheim would be waiting for Shinra's arrival.

But that wasn't the case.

"Small town?" Tego asked, and then received a stern look from Sephiroth. "Right . . . no talking. Got it."

_Not a small town at all,_ Cloud thought. _Although it feels like it's deserted . . ._

"Hello, everyone," Sephiroth said to the crowd now in front of him. As the two gate doors swung outward he said, "Shinra has heard about the problems Nibelheim has been facing lately and have come to rectify them."

A plump woman that Cloud didn't immediately recognize said, "So you're truly here to get rid of the monsters?"

A hushed murmuring raced through the crowd after this, and Cloud then realized that the woman was one of the owners of the town's Butcher Shop.

"Fear not," Sephiroth said, and as he spoke the crowd in front of him silenced. "From this day on you are in the best of hands, and we will not be leaving Nibelheim until everything is back to the way it was."

"But how?" a man shouted, and Cloud saw that it was Mr. Samardo, one of the three post curriers in the town. "It's getting to be winter soon, hear me, but I've already had to stop my mail runs to the other local towns. There's just too many beasts wandering the mountains and hills."

A few calls of "Hear him! Hear him!" ran through the crowd.

"I understand," Sephiroth said, his face still fixed and emotionless.

"But where are they comin' from?" a voice called, and Cloud couldn't find its owner. "We've never had to worry about nothin', hear me, except for the occasional wolf or other such being . . ."

"I understand your concern," Sephiroth said, his face still stern and blank, "but you all have to trust me. My team and I will get to the bottom of the issue . . . and in no time at all everything will be back to normal."

"But how can you know?" Mr. Samardo shouted. "Hear me, how can you really know?"

There was another bout of murmuring, but when Sephiroth smiled the crowd again silenced. "I know," he said, "because my team and I are the best of the best, and we've already taken care of one of these recently roaming creatures."

"You killed one?" a little boy in the front row said.

"Yes we did," Sephiroth answered. "And if we can kill one with such ease . . . then we can kill them all." He paused and acknowledged the new look displayed on the faces in front of him – the look of hope. He continued, "Now . . . my team and I have been travelling for a very long time."

"Indeed!" an old man cried. "Midgar ain't nowheres close to our town!"

Sephiroth nodded. "What you say is correct . . . and I assume that the rest of you also understand this. So let us have our rest for this night, and then in the morning we will commence our operation."

Words of gratitude rang out as the crowd started to disperse. They seemed content with what they'd heard, but Cloud couldn't quite share their new optimism.

_Tifa, where are you?_

He looked beyond the courtyard towards the old well again and took a breath.

Just as Cloud was about to cross the threshold into the entrance square of his hometown, Sephiroth turned and asked, "How does it feel?" He looked around the now-quiet area, which now only contained a small scattering of townsfolk. The black-caped man looked directly at Cloud. "It's your first trip back to your hometown in a long time, right?" Cloud nodded. "So how does it feel? I wouldn't know because I don't have a hometown . . ."

"Don't have a hometown?" Randall asked.

Tego shrugged, although the look on his face expressed his happiness at being able to speak once again. "How can you not have a hometown?"

Sephiroth only sighed. "I just . . . I don't remember, I suppose. My first memories are of Midgar, and training for SOLDIER."

Cloud stepped forward and asked, "What about your parents?"

Sephiroth breathed in the crisp valley air. "My mother, Jenova, died right after she gave birth to me. My father . . ." He laughed unconvincingly. "What does it matter? It's not important." He looked over the group. "Alright, let's move into the town."

Cloud couldn't be completely positive, but he was sure that he had seen Sephiroth look around Nibelheim with a peculiar expression on his face, a face of bewilderment and confusion that Cloud had never seen before. It forced him to recall the occasional moments when he'd found Sephiroth lost in thought, staring at nothing. It also forced him to remember that just recently, in Junon, Sephiroth had had that same look on his face when he'd been staring at the numbers on the top of the row of lockers.

_2-1-3-1,_ Cloud thought, remembering Sephiroth pointing to the individual numbers. _2131?_

They walked further into the town, passing the courtyard and the old well, and simply observed the tiny shops and the rows of houses.

It was a unique experience for Cloud, seeing all of the familiar houses, but it was still eerie without the regular crowd walking here and there on the cobblestone streets.

Cloud was about to ask Sephiroth how he was feeling – the look on his leader's face was one he couldn't figure out – when Tego said, "So, Cloud, where are all the ladies? I want to have some fun . . ."

Sephiroth spun around fast and cut Tego off, grabbing the guard's throat with his black-gloved hand. "You will be the first man on watch . . . and if I hear that you have even talked to _one_ girl before this night is over . . . well, let's just say that you and the monsters we're here for are going to have similar fates." The black-caped man pushed Tego back, and then continued walking down the street.

Behind them all, John, who'd been quiet so far, shook his head and then slapped Tego on the back of the head. "Idiot . . ."

"I was just kidding," Tego said.

Randall grinned. "Maybe you should keep the kidding to a minimum . . . it doesn't seem like Sephiroth is in the mood for it."

"He's never in the mood for it," Tego whined, grabbing at his aching throat.

John said, "Just do your watch . . . and keep away from the girls. Maybe he'll settle down by the morning."

Cloud and the three guards began to walk again, following Sephiroth's lead. "I don't know," Cloud said.

"You don't know what?" Tego questioned.

"I don't know if he'll settle down by the morning." Cloud lowered his voice. "Sephiroth has always been a bit . . . peculiar . . . but this time it seems different."

"Yeah," Randall added. "Something's definitely bothering him."

Up ahead they saw the subject of their conversation turn around.

Sephiroth looked towards the sky and then back at the group. "The Mako smell is pretty bad here." He turned around and began walking again, unable to see the curious looks he was receiving from his team.

Cloud gazed north and upward at Mt. Nibel, which was currently swarming with dreary clouds.

_What is going on . . .?_

3

"Yo, wait a minute!" Barret yelled, interrupting Cloud's story. "Isn't that, um . . ." He placed his hands on his forehead. "The name of Sephiroth's mother . . ." He stood up and looked at Cloud. "Jenova. I remember Jenova. That was that damn headless spook livin' in the Shinra building. That damn purple-blue thing . . ."

Cloud nodded. "That's right."

Barret continued, "That thing wasn't still in that dome container in Hojo's room. Do you think Sephiroth took it?"

Before Cloud could respond Tifa shook her head at Barret. "Barret, would you please let us hear what Cloud has to say? You can ask questions later."

"Tifa, I was only . . ."

She interrupted him. "Okay Cloud, continue." She gave him a wavering smile.

Cloud took a breath, thinking that Tifa's smile looked forced and fake all the same. He continued, "The town was quiet. Most of the people were staying in their houses, afraid to come out because of the monsters. No, maybe they were afraid of us . . ."

4

Still standing in the streets, having walked in and out of the main square of the town, Sephiroth said to the group, "You'll notice that I did not mention anything about the Mako reactor to the townsfolk. I didn't want anyone to suddenly decide to 'play-the-hero' and try and search the reactor tonight." He paused. "We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early." He walked to the inn that he was standing beside. He opened the door, but before he entered he turned around and said, "Oh, that's right. You may visit your family and friends, but try and make it back to the inn before it's too late . . . I fear that tomorrow is going to be a day to remember." The black-caped man entered the inn and closed the door firmly behind him.

"Chipper as always," Tego said.

John rolled his eyes under his mask. "I'm going in too . . . the long drive took it out of me."

Putting his arm around Cloud's shoulders, Tego said, "So how 'bout it, Cloud? Wanna show me the hot spots of the neighborhood?"

Cloud smiled and looked around at his old hometown. Everything was the way it had been when he had left two years ago. All the houses were still designed the same, the well looked the same, and even the old Shinra Mansion that sat at the top of the hill looked the same.

Looking at Tego, Cloud said, "First of all . . . there aren't really any hot spots. And second of all, you're supposed to be making your way back to the town's entrance."

"Remember?" Randall said. "You're on watch."

"Yeah, yeah . . ." Tego said, exaggeratedly slumping his shoulders. "This mission is turning out to be a major bummer . . ."

Cloud shook his head as he watched Tego dragging his feet back towards the gates of Nibelheim.

"He's a character, that one," Randall said. "I don't think he'll ever learn . . ."

Cloud nodded. "You'd think that after someone like Sephiroth grabbed your throat and threatened to kill you that you'd at least sharpen up a bit."

Smiling, Randall said, "I don't think Tego would learn even after Sephiroth had already killed him."

Cloud laughed. "You got a point there."

The two men walked down the road for a while, occasionally greeting the few townspeople that either remembered Cloud or simply wanted to know more about what they planned to do to eliminate the monsters.

"I just hope you people know what you're doing," a man named Terris, the owner of the Skyrock Tavern, said to them before he reentered the bar.

Cloud and Randall continued on for a few minutes without running into anyone. They passed the Shinra Mansion and walked up to the start of the path through the mountains.

Looking up into the dark, cloudy sky, Randall asked, "You ever been up there before?"

Cloud nodded. "Only once . . . and I had kind of hoped I'd never have to go again."

"Oh," Randall said, still searching for the pinnacle of Mt. Nibel.

"But I'm not worried," Cloud continued. "With Sephiroth with us everything should be fine." He glanced up at the dark mountain. "And besides . . . the reactor isn't up at the pinnacle. So it won't be as bad as you're thinking."

Randall sighed. "That's good . . . because I was thinking it was going to be pretty bad."

They turned around and started back towards the thick of the town, where the houses were wide and tall.

"You're really not worried at all?" Randall asked, the inn now in sight.

Cloud turned his eyes from a particular house – the name Strife was written on the mailbox – and asked, "Worried?"

"About the climb . . . about the mission?"

Cloud shook his head. "I told you . . . we have Sephiroth . . ."

"But Sephiroth seems different," Randall interrupted. "Don't tell me that you don't see it."

Cloud's brow wrinkled. "No . . . I can't tell you that I don't see it . . . but it's nothing to worry about. I've spent a fair amount of time with Sephiroth and he's always been a bit . . . well, like I said before . . . peculiar."

A door to the left of the men suddenly cracked open. They turned and saw a man slowly opening the wooden door. He walked leisurely and held a camera in his hands. He whispered, "I heard Sephiroth was coming so I got my camera ready."

Cloud smiled. "Mr. Samardo . . . he's actually in for the night, big day and all tomorrow, you know . . . but you can take our picture."

The man sneered at him at first, obviously confused from the usage of his name, but then looked at Cloud's face again. "Hey . . . are you Cloud Strife?" Cloud nodded. "Really? So that's how it is, huh? Gosh, Cloud, you've grown up to be a nice-looking kid. Hear me, you really have."

"Thanks, sir," Cloud said. "So how has business been?"

Samardo shrugged. "You know how it is. Everyone's always got mail to send and mail to receive . . . but well, you know . . . lately . . ." He paused and smiled. "But really though, getting to work with the mighty Sephiroth, hear me, you must be proud." He turned towards Randall. "You both must be proud."

"We are, sir," Randall said. "You better believe it."

Smiling again, Cloud asked, "So now will you take our picture?"

Mr. Samardo smiled oddly and raised his arms. "This camera stuff is kind of new to me, Cloud . . . and I don't have a whole lot of film. So I'll tell you what . . . let me take a picture of you all with Sephiroth . . . that'll be something this town will never forget."

Cloud understood that Samardo only really wanted a picture of Sephiroth, but the knowledge didn't hurt his feelings.

_Everyone wants a picture of Sephiroth these days . . ._

"Sounds good," Cloud responded. "But you better be up early if you want to catch him."

The postman with the camera nodded. "I will be . . . thanks, Cloud." He turned around and walked back into his house.

"Well, Randall," Cloud said, "it's time for me and you to go our separate ways, buddy."

"You going to say hi to your folks?" Randall asked, having seen Cloud staring at the house across the way.

"Yep," Cloud answered. "I'll see you a bit . . . I won't be long."

"Alright. I'm going to head back to the inn. See you later, Cloud." With a quick wave Randall began to walk.

Looking past a few shops he again looked upon his old house. The sight touched his heart. In fact, the simple wooden design of all of the houses gave him a powerful inner warmth. He hadn't been around anything like this in Midgar.

_Nothing in Midgar is like this,_ he thought.

He sniffed at the Mako-scented air and then started making his way over to his old house. As he approached he could see his mother through one of the four square windows carved into the front side of the house.

5

Cloud paused, his voice dropping off. He looked around the room at the others and then towards the fireplace at Red 13. He took a breath and then continued, "Five years ago . . . I went to my house . . . but it has nothing to do with the incident that happened."

Barret yelled, "Yo wait, I wanna hear!" He lightly stomped his foot and smiled.

"Me too!" Aeris said. "It'd been a long time, right?"

"Tell us more! You saw your family, right?"

Cloud softly sighed and gave off a tiny shudder. "Alright . . ." He paced for a second and then continued. "I don't know if you could call it a 'family'. My father died when I was still very young . . . and I didn't have any brothers or sisters. That's why my mom was living alone in the house." He sat down on a nearby chair. "Yeah, I saw my mom. She was . . . she was a vibrant woman. Hadn't changed at all." He paused, realizing he was holding his breath. He exhaled and said, "But a few days later . . . she died. When I saw her though, she looked fine."

6

Cloud entered the spacious and cozy one-room home and saw his mother cooking in the well-lit kitchen area. Whatever she was cooking smelled better than anything Shinra had cooked in the past two years.

His mother, Miriamele, turned around when she heard the door open and close. A heavenly smile slowly covered her face. She ran towards her son. "Cloud!" They embraced. She squeezed him tightly. "Welcome home, Cloud! It's been so long, dear."

"Hi, Mom."

"Oh, Cloud," Miri said. "Hear me . . . it's been so long!"

He nodded, smiling at her usage of 'hear me'. He'd forgotten about that particularly popular saying within the Nibelheim community. "Two years, Mom . . ."

She squeezed him again, and he suddenly felt like he was six years old again. She released him and said, "I'd heard that Shinra was coming to deal with the monsters but I had no idea that you'd be coming!"

"Yeah," he said, "they didn't even tell us. Everything was pretty much under wraps."

Miri giggled with glee. "But oh, Cloud, it's just so nice to see you." She paused to smile again. "My boy . . . all grown up!"

After a bit more welcoming, Cloud took the opportunity to get out of arms reach of his mother. On a few brick steps that led up to a fireplace he sat down and relaxed.

His mother quickly tended to something in the kitchen area and then walked up to him and smiled. "Let me take a look at you. Hear me, Cloud, you are just so big now!" While slowly circling him, she said, "You look so handsome." She wiped away a tear. "So this is a SOLDIER uniform?"

He looked up at her and took a deep breath, inhaling the air as well as the warmth from the nearby fire. "Mom, I . . ."

7

Pain twanged in the back of his head, and then suddenly spread out, causing his working mind to go blank.

Cloud stopped talking for a second, bewildered. For some reason or another he couldn't remember this part of his story.

_That's strange . . . why don't I remember?_

He looked at the team for a second, seeing their equally bewildered faces.

He gave them a shaky smile and shrugged. "It's been five years . . . I guess a few details have slipped my mind."

He glanced at Tifa, whose face was blank, and then took a sip of water.

"Anyways . . ."

8

After a long day he should've known that he would end up on his old pillow-top bed. It was moderately large and stationed straight across from the kitchen area. It was the most comfortable bed he had ever slept in.

"My . . . how you've grown," his mom said to him, turning away from the wooden stove. "I'll bet the girls never leave you alone." She winked at him.

He raised his head from the cozy pillow for a second and said, "Not really . . ." He laid back down, thinking about how comfortable the bed was compared to the ones in Midgar. Looking out of the window he could see that the sky was darkening.

Pacing around and shaking her head Miriamele said, ". . . I'm worried about you, Cloud . . . there are a lot of temptations in the city." She stopped pacing and looked directly at him. "I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."

He smirked and turned over. "I'm all right, Ma."

"You should have . . . an older girlfriend," she persisted, "one that will take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you."

Feeling himself slip away to sleep he said, "I'm not interested," and slowly watched the room fade away.

After a short nap he walked to his mother who was still working away in the kitchen. She touched his forehead. "Are you eating right?"

He nodded. "I'm all right. The Company takes care of me. And speaking of which, it's getting late . . . I kind of need to . . ."

"Is that so?" she interrupted. "Well I'm glad they're feeding you well. You still can't cook, right? I was worried sick about how you were doing . . ."

He smiled and hugged her. "I'm fine, Mom."

She looked him in the eyes. "You know, Cloud . . . I . . ."

9

Pain flared again, and it forced his mind into a state of nothingness. He almost felt the same dizzying sensation that he had experienced back at the Mako reactors in Midgar.

He stood up and yelled, "Let's stop this . . ."

The team all looked at each other, confused.

After a minute the ex-SOLDIER said, "I'm sorry . . . I guess I just don't like remembering this part of the story . . . because I know what's going to happen." He looked at Tifa. "We both know what's going to happen . . ."

Tifa only nodded, her face as blank as Cloud's mind currently was.


	41. 3-7 An Old Man, Troubled

7. An Old Man, Troubled

1

It had been another restless night in the house that sat on the pinnacle of Cosmo Canyon, but when Bugenhagen heard the raspy moan exit out of the cornered speakers he gave up trying to sleep entirely.

He slowly sat up in his small bed, and then placed his old feet on the ground, very aware of his creaking joints but also ignorant of them. This non-observation oddly, yet accurately, symbolized Bugenhagen's daily routine since the disappearance of Nanaki – he was aware of the goings-on within the canyon, yet he was also oblivious of them.

_I'm not even sure how many days it's been,_ he thought as he left the lightless room. He took a momentary glance across the hall where Nanaki's room sat empty and quiet, and then made his way gingerly down the stairs. _One week? Two weeks?_

He allowed a mirthless laugh, still taking one step at a time. As one so esteemed in the faiths of science and nature, it was ironic that he would be the one to lose track of time.

_But I miss him,_ he pleaded with himself. _It seems I can't keep track of anything lately._

And he couldn't.

He'd made two separate trips to the back of the canyon where his secret friend was located, but if there had been a reason why it was now beyond his comprehension.

He'd talked to all of the canyon's frequent travelers, semi-aware on the third and fourth days of questioning that they were all reluctantly annoyed at having to answer the same questions again and again.

He'd even tried spending more time with the other elders. And while this at first had calmed him to a point where he could rationally talk about Nanaki or the Planet, it hadn't taken long for him to grow tired of the leisurely mode of life that the elders made their own.

Now at the bottom of the stairs, unconcerned about the small victories of silent, old joints, he made his way over to the sound system that was adjacent to his living space.

"The only thing I can look forward to lately is my rest," he whispered to the blinking, rectangular box, "and you've stolen that from me."

Deep inside he already regretted the action that he was about to do. The Planet was still a great concern to him and the others within Cosmo Canyon, and the mysterious noises, which he'd termed the 'Cries of the Planet', were obviously important to the Planet's study.

"But I can't focus on that these days anyways," he murmured as he reached forward, sliding the power switch from 'On' to 'Off'.

Just before the speakers faded out to silence a haunting whisper of static bounced through the room, and then cut off.

A chill ran up Bugenhagen's spine as he made his way to the nearby couch. Yet as ominous as the sound had been the old man quickly forgot about it, his thoughts focused only on the next day's events.

He'd told himself that he would take action concerning Nanaki, and he had, sending two of the canyon's fastest runners to Rocket Town in search of a man named Cid Highwind.

The old man closed his eyes, making one last attempt to sleep before the arrival of dawn.

But even with his eyes closed Bugenhagen could still see the scene that had played out earlier that day as the two runners had entered his home and told him that 'Mr. Highwind would be arriving sometime tomorrow morning'.

The old man had been fairly certain that Cid was going to oblige him of his desperate request, if not for the sake of Nanaki then for the companionship that he and Cid had shared all of those years ago, back when Rocket Town had still been called Janisville. But even still, Bugenhagen was happy that Cid had agreed, and would be even happier when he arrived in the morning.

Bugenhagen would've given up on the idea of sleep even as he talked to the two runners that evening if not for the fact that he was getting to be a very old man, and hadn't been in an airplane for a very long time.

_Ho Ho Hooo . . . let's hope these old bones hold together a bit longer,_ he thought, and then miraculously drifted off into a light doze.

2

"We'll be there in about ten minutes, old man," Cid called from the cockpit of the semi-spacious aircraft.

The plane, named the Tiny Bronco long ago by its previous owner, had a dozen seats save for the two boosters in the cockpit, and had two roped off sections towards the rear which housed various supplies.

Bugenhagen sat in the closest seat to the cockpit, and replied, "Thank you once again, Cid . . ."

"Don't mention it, old man," the Captain replied, his eyes focused on the disappearing clouds in front of him.

Bugenhagen was actually enjoying the flight, but any creeping excitement was kept firmly at bay every time that Nanaki's furry face came into his head.

He was grateful that Cid understood this, and that the Captain was restraining himself from his usual talkative and somewhat vulgar persona.

"Gongaga's right over there," Cid said, pointing into the approaching distance.

Bugenhagen nodded. "It's been ages since I've been there."

"It's been ages since you've been anywhere, old man," Cid said. "Any idea where I should be landing?"

"The western edge of the town," Bugenhagen replied, and then fell silent once again.

Sitting up straight and looking forward through the front window of the Bronco he could see Gongaga.

_I need to talk to the Knightblade's,_ he thought, and then tried to figure out how many years it had been since he'd talked with either of them face to face. _Too long,_ he thought, understanding that his racing mind wouldn't allow him to answer this question. _It's been too long, and that's not important anyways._

"Hey," Cid called.

"Yes?" Bugenhagen questioned.

"I don't have anyone with me to watch the Tiny Bronco," the Captain said. "You gonna be okay going into town on your own?"

Bugenhagen remained still for a moment, thinking that unless he found out something that concerned Nanaki's whereabouts that he would never be okay again. Instead of voicing this thought he only nodded his head and lied, "Yes, Cid . . . I'll be fine . . ."

3

Bugenhagen almost regretted his take-action decision to speak with the Knightblade's after the initial conversation. The disheartened parents were shocked to hear about Nanaki's disappearance, and knew nothing about his current location.

And now that that information had been exchanged, Bugenhagen realized that the only thing he'd done for this poor, broken family was add more debris to the already-catastrophic damage in their hearts.

He'd had to ask - he understood that. But now he saw the horrified look in each of their faces and knew what was coming next. And although he wasn't selfish, right now he couldn't be concerned with anything except for Nanaki.

"You haven't heard anything . . ." Mrs. Knightblade quavered, ". . . about our son?"

Bugenhagen sighed and shook his head. As much as he knew that he had needed to ask them about Nanaki, he was feeling the increasingly heavy weight of regret pull down his old body.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice flat.

As his wife burst into tears, Mr. Knightblade said, "Go lay down, honey." He waited until his wife left the room. "We're sorry, too, Bugenhagen. We really are . . ."

Bugenhagen was about to apologize for the topic having even been breached at all, but the look in the eyes of the man in front of him told him that everything was already understood.

"Is there anything at all that you can tell me?" the old, bearded man asked, achingly looking into the man's eyes. "Anything?"

For a while there was nothing except the silence in the room and the faint noise of the hustle and bustle outside, but then Mr. Knightblade said, "Bridgeman . . ."

"Bridgeman?" Bugenhagen echoed. "The fellow who makes the telescope lenses?"

"Yes," Mr. Knightblade said, nodding his head. "He would have been the last person to see Nanaki . . ."

Bugenhagen's old eyes widened. "You know this? For sure?"

The sad-faced man in front of him nodded his head again. "Yes, Bugenhagen. Nanaki's always said that he and Bridgeman never really got along, so he always made Bridgeman's house his last stop before leaving Gongaga."

"You're sure of this?"

Mr. Knightblade nodded once again. "Yes, Bugenhagen. I'm sure . . ."

"I need to leave then . . ." Bugenhagen stepped forward and embraced the cheerless man. "Thank you."

"Good luck in your search," Mr. Knightblade said, delicately hugging Bugenhagen.

"And you in yours . . ."

4

The old man quickly left the Knightblade house, his insides swarming with mounting hope.

_I'm coming, Nanaki . . . I'm coming . . . _

He walked faster than he had in years, almost breaking into a jog, swirling anticipation filling him up.

_I'm coming . . . I'm almost there . . ._

He ignored the stares and calls from the surrounding townsfolk, Nanaki's face the only thing in his mind.

_Oh, my dear grandchild,_ he thought, and increased his pace again, the hope that was overcoming him turned off the pain that was forming in his old legs.

He stopped only once to ask where the Bridgeman house was located, and after the woman had told him he quickly started off again, ignoring whatever else the woman had had to say.

_Nanaki . . . Nanaki, I'm . . ._

The old man was now motionless, yet he still ignored the excruciating pain in his sore and stiffening legs.

Standing in front of him was an abandoned house.

He wasn't sure how long he was standing there when the woman he'd spoke to before said, "I told ya, old man, that asshole Bridgeman packed up and left with the Shinra last week. If you know him . . . you tell him he owes his ol' neighbor Martha a shitload of gil."

The speedily rising sensation of hope died off within Bugenhagen's fragile body, and he sensed that he might never feel that overwhelming power again.

"Oh, Nanaki . . ." he said aloud, causing the woman beside him to twist her face in confusion. "Where are you?"


	42. 3-8 Cloud's Story - III

8. Cloud's Story – III

1

Cloud paced the length of the room, trying to will away the dull ache in his head.

"We can stop for a while," Aeris said, carefully watching the storyteller.

The ex-SOLDIER stopped pacing and looked at her. He then looked at the rest of the group and said, "No . . . that's alright. I'm fine."

After a quick shrug and a gentle shake of his head, he sat down and continued his recollection of the past.

2

Cloud exited his house, leaving his mother with tears of joy in her eyes. He'd told her that he needed to get back to the inn that the Shinra group was staying at, but he also knew that he badly wanted to go next door before it got even later.

_After all,_ he thought, _even if Tifa somehow didn't hear about Shinra coming to Nibelheim, I can still go and see her on my own._

Taking a breath he turned left, leaving the small street-yard in the front of his house, and then walked across the small courtyard toward Tifa's.

He approached the door, and the idea that Tifa might not even live here anymore suddenly entered his mind.

_Still . . . they might know where she's gone . . ._

He lifted his arm to knock on the door and then hesitated once again.

_What if she does live here and her father answers the door? Maybe that's why I haven't seen her yet . . ._

He paused, but then ultimately decided to knock, thinking that the incident between Tifa, Mr. Lockhart, and himself was all in the past, and that Mr. Lockhart would probably be impressed to see him in his SOLDIER garb.

After a few moments he knocked on the door again, this time somewhat harder. This knock caused the door – which he had to assume hadn't been shut correctly - to open slowly, revealing the foyer and a section of the living room to him.

He knocked again and called out, "Hello? Is anyone here?" He hesitated to step through the threshold. "Tifa? The door was open . . . it's Cloud."

No one responded to his calls so he reached for the door handle, sighing and intending to shut the open door.

But as he stepped inside to close the door he saw a letter on the wooden stand next to the nearby coat rack.

Wondering where Tifa was, and thinking that this letter might supply him with even an inkling of information, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He'd been so focused on the letter that he hadn't even thought to look behind him to see if anyone was observing him as he entered a house that wasn't his own.

He paused for a moment after the door had been closed, listening for any particularly-human sounds coming from the other sections of the house. Hearing nothing he picked up the letter and started to read it over. It was a letter for Tifa from the son of the family that ran the General Store in town.

It read:

**"Tifa, how are you? It's your buddy, Peter! I just arrived in the floating city of Midgar eight days ago. Yesterday, all of the guys who had lived in Nibelheim got together to welcome me. We had quite the party! They're crazy out here in the metropolis! It's nothing like our little hometown! The only person that we couldn't get a hold of was Cloud Strife. You remember him, right? Well, anyways, everyone said that he wasn't really that close to us, so no big deal, I guess. Roland said that even if we had asked him to come he probably wouldn't have, so no big loss. Well, enough about him. **

**Midgar is really something. But to tell you the truth, I feel so behind in everything . . . so out of it. Even the rooms of the people in the slums are clean. And I must admit . . . right now, I am living in the slums, but I plan to move into a really nice place above the plate, like the ones I've seen in magazines, once I make some gil. And wow, Tifa, the plate really is something, just like they taught us in school! But anyways, if I want to move up to the plate, I guess I'll have to find a job . . . and fast!**

**That's right, I still haven't found a job yet. I lied to my parents and told them that I found a great job with Shinra, Inc., it was Roland's idea . . . I guess he told his parents the same thing. Sometimes I think I should've just taken over my parents' store.**

**All I think about is Nibelheim.**

**Tifa, is that stupid old well still working? Is the old man at the inn doing well? Are my parents still at the shop every day? Have any monsters attacked? – rumors have been flying all over the city, I don't know what to believe anymore. And most of all, how are you, Tifa? It feels like I haven't seen you in years. We were all thinking about you last night. Johnny just wouldn't shut up, he really misses you. I miss you a lot too. Wow, if I keep writing like this, this'll become a love letter! So . . . I think I'll stop here. Take care. I'll write again.**

**Peter**

**P.S. – Write me back, okay?"**

Cloud placed the letter down, unsure of how he felt. He was content with the knowledge that Tifa still lived here, but he hadn't exactly enjoyed reading the section of the letter in which he himself had been the subject.

_But she's here,_ he thought, and then turned around to see Tifa's father staring at him.

"Can I help you with something?" Mr. Lockhart said, his voice gravelly.

Cloud had jumped after the initial shock, and at first could only shake his head.

"So that's how it is, Mr. Strife," the man continued, still glaring. "You think that just because you spent some time in the city, making a big shot out of yourself, that you can just waltz back into town and do what you please?"

"No . . . I . . ."

"Why were you going through my daughter's things?" Mr. Lockhart bellowed.

Cloud took in a quick breath of air. "I wasn't . . . I . . ."

"I saw you! And you were so absorbed in it that you didn't even hear me come in behind you!"

"I just . . ." Cloud started, and then took another quick breath. "I just wanted to see Tifa."

Mr. Lockhart took a step forward, his face only inches away from Cloud's own. "I don't want you to see my daughter . . . and if it were up to me, you'd never get the chance. But tomorrow's decision is out of my hands."

"Tomorrow?" Cloud questioned.

"Like you don't already know, you little punk!" Mr. Lockhart said, his face reddening. "I'm sure you thought it was quite ironic that you and my daughter would be headed back up there . . . back where you took her so long ago . . ."

"Sir, I have no idea . . ." Cloud stammered, and then paused. "Wait . . . the mountain? Mt. Nibel?"

Instead of answering, Mr. Lockhart dropped his head and pointed towards the door. "Did you really think that I'd forget about what you did?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, but . . ."

"Get out!" Mr. Lockhart said, still pointing towards the door. "And tomorrow, you stay away from my daughter . . ."

3

After Cloud left Tifa's house, he underwent a short period of deeply mixed feelings concerning what had just happened.

_I'm not sure that could've gone any worse . . ._

As he walked towards the inn he saw dozens of familiar faces, but none of them were Tifa's – and yet, he'd been told that he was going to see her familiar face tomorrow.

_And on Mt. Nibel . . . that _is_ what I was just told, right?_

He continued on, his thoughts racing, while occasionally returning a greeting from a familiar face or two.

When he finally made it to the inn however, his running mind slowed to a stop when he saw a very unfamiliar face.

This tall white-haired man, sporting a rather comical red cape and thick gray stubble, looked sternly at Cloud and asked, "Is Shinra here to get rid of the monsters?"

Cloud nodded and raised his brow. "Yeah . . . that's what we're here for. And who are you?"

"I'm Zangan," the man replied with a genuine smile. "I travel around the Planet teaching children martial arts." He jumped high and somersaulted over Cloud as if to demonstrate. He smiled at Cloud's exacerbated look and then continued, "I have one hundred and twenty eight students all over the Planet! In this town, a girl named Tifa is my student."

Cloud's look faltered. "Did you say Tifa?"

Zangan nodded. "Tifa has good sense. She'll be a powerful fighter someday." He slowly walked towards the exit. Just before he left the inn he turned around and said, "Someday soon, I might add . . ."

Cloud shrugged, thinking that sleep might be the best thing for him now, and then started to head past the old man sitting at the check-in desk. The man stood up and said, "The whole inn is booked up by Shinra for the night." He then paused and recognized Cloud. "Is it you, Cloud? Cloud Strife! It must've been two years since I seen ya last. Say, you've really moved up in the world, being under Sephiroth's command." He winked at Cloud, and then sat back down.

"Thank you, it's nice to see you, too," Cloud said, and then proceeded to the second floor.

Sephiroth was standing on the landing, peering out of a window. Cloud saw that same puzzling look on Sephiroth's face that he had seen when they had first entered the town – a searching look, a needing look. He approached the leader of SOLDIER and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Sephiroth continued to look deeply through the translucent window. After a few silent moments he replied, "This scenery . . . I feel like I know this place." He blinked a few times. After a quick stretch he looked at Cloud and said, "We have an early start tomorrow. You should get some sleep soon."

Cloud yawned. He thought about asking Sephiroth about Tifa, but thought better of it and said, "Sounds like a good idea to me." He held his arms above his head and stretched.

Sephiroth, again looking out of the window, said, "I've hired a guide to lead us to the Mako reactor. I've heard she's young. I hope we can rely on her . . ."

Cloud patted him on the shoulder.

_There's my answer,_ he thought. _And he gave it to me without even knowing._

Cloud yawned again as he walked to the inn's master bedroom. Lying down on the first empty bed that he saw he quickly fell fast asleep, not even bothering to take off his newly-acquired SOLDIER uniform.

4

The next morning, after a quick breakfast provided by the inn, the group gathered up at the top of the hill across town, just outside of the Shinra Mansion and near the start of Mt. Nibel's winding trail. A few other people from the town, including Samardo with his camera, were present as well.

Sephiroth broke the silence. "Once the guide gets here, we're heading out."

_The guide,_ Cloud thought. _Tifa . . ._

Tego wiped away some sleep from his eyes. He'd been on watch long into the night until John had relieved him. Cloud silently praised the man for not speaking his mind, knowing full-well that he wanted to.

Soon enough, wearing a coffee-colored cowboy hat, Tifa came sprinting up from her house. Her father was close behind her. Once they were both up the hill Mr. Lockhart locked eyes with Cloud and said, "Listen to me, Sephiroth. In case something happens . . ."

Holding his hand in the air, Sephiroth responded, "Trust me."

Tifa smiled at her father. "I'll be alright, Dad! I have two men from SOLDIER with me." She walked to Sephiroth. "I'm Tifa. Nice to meet you."

Cloud stepped forward, avoiding Mr. Lockhart's gaze. He was somewhat taken aback that his old childhood friend hadn't even looked at him since she'd arrived. "Hi, Tifa," he said, and tried his best to smile. "So you're going to take us up through the mountains?" Beside him he heard Tifa's dad huff at this statement.

"That's right!" Tifa said, still speaking to everyone. "I just happen to be the number one guide in town."

Cloud didn't want to be separated from her so quickly, but he also knew that her father was still breathing down his neck. "Don't you think it's a bit dangerous?" he said, looking at Sephiroth. "Do we really need a guide for this mission? After all, I've been up into the mountains . . . once before . . ."

Sephiroth made his way to the path, and then turned around and said, "Once is not enough. This is not something you should be worrying about anyways."

Cloud nodded and glanced at Tifa and her father, both of whom were giving him unfriendly looks.

Samardo swallowed hard and slowly walked towards Sephiroth. Audibly clearing his throat he said, "Umm . . ." Sephiroth focused on him. "Um, Mr. Sephiroth, please let me take one picture for a memento." No one said anything. He faced Tifa. "Tifa, can you ask him for me?"

Cloud walked over and stood by Tifa in front of the Shinra Mansion. He put on his best smile, tried to forget that her father was standing close by and said, "How 'bout it, Tifa? Do you wanna be in the picture with us?"

Tifa's scowling face morphed into a smile. "Of course . . ."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes and then slowly walked over and stood on Tifa's other side. Samardo held the camera up to his face, aimed, and then took the picture just before Sephiroth exhaled and walked out of the shot.

"Great, thank you! I'll give each of you a copy once I get it developed," Samardo said.

Tego, having been silent so far, stepped forward and pointed at John, Randall, and himself. "Hey! What about us?"

Samardo shrugged and was about to aim his camera again when Sephiroth said, "There's no time . . . let's go."

They all complied with Sephiroth's command and said their goodbyes to the townsfolk before making their way towards the start of the trail.

Tego glared at the silver-haired man and then clenched his fists. He muttered something that none of them could hear before starting up the trail after them.

5

Cloud would have liked to have spent the next few hours catching up with Tifa, but after some initial banter Sephiroth had pleaded silence from everyone.

Tifa had only shrugged, a wry smile on her face as she lead them on.

Cloud had also shrugged, but he could see the searching look on Sephiroth's face and knew that the black-caped man was deep in thought.

He sighed and looked around as he continued to plod on. Mt. Nibel was a dull and cold place, vast and perilous. The gray rocks and black cracks that were Mt. Nibel's scenery seemed the same now as they had years ago.

_I can't be thinking about that,_ he thought, suddenly remembering that they weren't up here for the sport of the climb. They were up here because creatures had been showing up all over the Planet, and a large number of them had been spotted around Nibelheim.

Cloud wasn't sure how that related to the problem inside of the Mako reactor. And now that he thought about it, how was he suppose to do his best on this current mission if he still didn't know exactly what was going on?

"Sephiroth," he said.

The black-caped man continued to walk on the hard dirt and loose stone path. "Yes?"

"About the monsters . . ."

Sephiroth shook his head and waved his arm. "Not now . . . not in front of the girl."

Cloud couldn't see Tifa's face but he was positive that she had reacted to this.

It was only minutes later when she shouted, "We'll rest here for a minute or two . . . it's as good a spot as any."

Sephiroth stared at her for a moment, and Cloud was heartened to see that Tifa held his gaze even if for an instant. The leader of SOLDIER then turned away from the team and sat on one of the jutting rocks.

The path had widened and thinned as the group climbed and maneuvered through the gray rock of Mt. Nibel. The section of path they stood on now was quite wide.

"Good choice for a stopping point," Randall said to Tifa.

"Thanks," she said, and then made her way over to Cloud.

Once they were both sitting and taking an occasional swig of water from their canteens Tifa leaned close to Cloud and asked, "Why all the secrecy?"

Just at that moment Cloud saw Sephiroth looking in his direction. Cloud could only shake his head in Tifa's direction and take another drink of water.

"Cloud?" Tifa questioned, having not seen Sephiroth.

Before Cloud could shake his head again, Sephiroth stood up and said, "Break's over . . . let's start moving again."

For a second Cloud feared that Tifa was going to say something to Sephiroth, but instead she got to her feet and walked back to the front of the group. With a quick shrug she said, "Alright, let's go."

Tego rolled his eyes and then whispered to John and Randall, "That wasn't much of a break . . ."

The two men only shrugged before they got to their feet and started on the mountain path again.

6

After a few hours of following Tifa's lead on the narrow mountain path – Sephiroth's mood growing sourer by the second - the group reached an old, rickety rope bridge. Cloud had never seen the bridge before but immediately knew why it was here.

Tifa called back to the others, "It gets harder from here! Follow me."

Perhaps the bridge was just worn out from all of the years that it had carried people, or perhaps it was because of the combined weight of Sephiroth, Cloud, Tifa, and the three guards, but either way it did not hold.

More than halfway across the rope bridge they all heard the sharp snap of the uncoiling rope underneath them. As they frantically tried to get to the other side the boards beneath them started to fall one-by-one at first, and then in two's and three's.

Cloud raced past some of the others and grabbed for Tifa's hand.

Soon the entire bridge dropped, leaving them with nothing to hold but the bitter air of the mountain.

About fifty feet below the group watched as the canyon ground hastily approached them.

There hadn't even been time to scream before the team landed on the ground, sinking into the soft earth that they had all assumed was going to be rock hard. Everyone was silent for a minute, not sure if they were okay or not. Everything had happened so fast.

Cloud tried to slow his breathing and then looked around him at the others. He touched the ground around him. It was incredibly soft and fertile.

He stood up and noticed that everyone else was okay, each having left a body indentation in the soft soil, although it seemed that the masked guard, John, was missing.

When Sephiroth stood he pointed at a large boulder beside them. A large, crimson bloodstain ran from the top of the rock and dripped towards the boulder's hidden side.

"Shit . . . John . . ." Tego said, still catching his breath. He was now pointing at the boulder as well.

Sephiroth brushed some of the earth off of his uniform. "Be grateful that we're alive. Our guide obviously didn't think to warn us about the age of the bridge . . ."

"Hey!" Cloud shouted, and then fell silent when Sephiroth turned to face him.

Tifa said, "How was I supposed to know about the bridge?"

"Sephiroth," Tego said, "she obviously wouldn't have had us go across the bridge if she had known what was going to happen."

"Thank you," Tifa said, and then looked up to where the bridge had been.

Cloud was also looking towards the dreary sky. "How can we be okay?" he asked. "Is the ground really that soft?"

Randall turned his gaze from the bloody boulder and said, "There's supposed to be Mako everywhere around here, right? That's why they built the reactor here."

Avoiding Sephiroth's stare, Tego added, "So maybe the ground really is that soft. Just look at the impressions we made in it."

Looking down they saw that the ground had five distinct body impressions smoothed into it.

Brushing off the dirt from his black gloves, Sephiroth announced, "Everyone seems to be all right. And Ms. Lockhart . . ."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry." Sephiroth took a breath. "Something about Nibelheim has had me a bit on edge and my mind hasn't seemed my own lately. The fall jarred me . . . as it did all of us."

"Jarred . . . that's one word for it," Tego said, picturing John's body plummeting through the air and striking the boulder.

Sephiroth ignored him. Still addressing Tifa he asked, "Can we get back to where we were? Or at least get to where we need to go?"

Tifa looked around the heights of gray rock. "These caves are all intertwined, just like an ant farm. There has to be a path here somewhere."

Randall added, "Yeah . . . how else could they have gotten to the other side back before the bridge was built?"

"Exactly," Tifa said. She looked around at everyone. "Oh, and Sephiroth, one of your guards seems to be missing."

Sephiroth and Cloud exchanged glances. Randall and Tego did the same.

"What?" Tifa asked, seeing all of their ashen expressions.

_Tifa didn't see the blood,_ Cloud thought, and hoped that none of the others would say anything.

Sephiroth looked around at the group, keeping his eyes away from the boulder behind Tifa, and said, "It may sound cold, but we've got no time to . . ." he paused and finished, ". . . search for him. We can't go back now, so we must go on. From here on out we'll travel close together."

Tifa looked towards Cloud, confusion on her face.

He did his best to smile and then slowly led her in the opposite direction of the boulder, keeping her eyes pointed in front of her.

"After the mission," he lied to her. "After the mission we'll search for him . . ."

"Okay, good," Tifa said, and seemed to instantly brighten.

Cloud would've felt worse deceiving Tifa, but he understood why it had needed to be done.

Sephiroth nodded towards Cloud and then looked at Tifa. "Lead the way."

7

And so they all traveled along the side of the mountain until they reached a cave, it's opening a deep cut in the mountainside. After stepping inside, any fear of not having a light source was vanquished.

"Wow," Tifa exclaimed.

"Yeah," Tego agreed. "Wow is right . . ."

The group was amazed by the spectacle of colors and the sparkling walls that surrounded them. Everywhere Mako-colored light shone off of the shadowy walls.

Cloud touched the illuminating walls. "What is this?" he asked to anyone in the group who might have known the answer.

Tifa also touched the sparkling walls and then quietly responded, "A mysteriously colored cave . . ." She had always heard about the multihued caves but had never seen them. "I've heard people talk about them before, but I didn't know if they were real . . ." She paused and ran ahead to touch another section of the running wall. "It's so pretty . . ."

Looking around at his surroundings, Sephiroth said, "It must be the Mako energy."

Randall nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

Sephiroth continued, "As we know, this mountain is especially abundant in it. That's why the Mako reactor was built here originally."

"Wait," Cloud said. "The Mako reactor we're walking to is the first Mako reactor that was ever built?"

Sephiroth nodded and signaled them to continue on through the ethereally green-glowing mountain.

8

They continued on through the cave for almost an hour, looking around at the greenish-blue stalactites and the soft purple ground. The sparkle from the glimmering walls captivated them as they passed.

After managing their way through a tiny hole in the cavern the ceiling abruptly rose about twenty feet. A sound almost equivalent to the flow of water could be heard. But when the group entered the room they saw something much rarer than water.

A beautiful, glittering fountain sat in the middle of the dazzling, greenish-yellow room. Cloud asked, "And what's this?" It seemed he'd been asking this question every couple of minutes as they trekked through the multihued caverns. This time he looked straight at Sephiroth for the answer.

For the first time since meeting with Sephiroth about the mission back in Midgar, Cloud saw the silver-haired man's face transform from something stern to something striking.

Sephiroth stared at the trickling fountain and answered, "A Mako fountain. It's a miracle of nature."

"It's a miracle of nature just seeing you smile!" Tego said, although his eyes were already focused back on the Mako fountain.

Tifa walked up to it. "It's so beautiful!" She looked around at the wonderful sight of the cave. After a moment she frowned. "If the Mako reactor continues to suck up the energy, this fountain will dry up too . . ."

Everyone leaned in towards the green-glowing cascade of Mako, all of their faces basking in its emerald glow.

"Materia," Sephiroth said, still gazing at the fountain. "When you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. It's very rare to be able to see materia in its natural state."

Cloud looked away from the fountain and asked, "Sephiroth, why is it that when you use materia you can also use magic too?"

The black-caped man appeared to wince and then looked away from the fountain and towards Cloud. "You're in SOLDIER and don't even know that?" he asked. "The knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia."

"The Ancients," Tego said. "The Cetra . . ."

"Very good," Sephiroth said. "You'll impress me yet . . ."

"Cetra?" Cloud asked.

Sephiroth nodded. "It's what the Ancients called themselves. And anyone with the Cetra's knowledge can freely use the powers of the land and the Planet. That particular knowledge interacts between the Planet and ourselves, calling up 'magic' . . . or in other words 'the power of the Cetra'."

"Magic . . ." Cloud said, looking back at the fountain. "A mysterious power . . ."

Sephiroth put both hands on his knees, his complacent smile morphing into a grin. "Hahaha!" he laughed.

Cloud furrowed his brow. "Did I say something funny?"

Sephiroth put his hand on Cloud's shoulder. "A man once told me never to use an unscientific term such as 'mysterious power'! He said that the Cetra's power shouldn't even be called 'magic'!" He laughed again. "I still remember how angry he was."

Cloud continued to stare at the Mako fountain. "Who was that?"

"Dorian Hojo of Shinra, Inc. An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist." Sephiroth's smile disappeared, although his face was still composed. "Hojo was a walking mass of complexes."

Tifa was still staring all around the large, hollow room. She whispered to herself, "A Mako fountain. So this is where the knowledge of the Ancients is . . ."

9

The group soon found the cheese at the end of the maze. After another hour of wandering through the tunnel system they had finally exited to find that they had made it to their destination. Standing before them was the Mako reactor, built high up on Mt. Nibel.

Tifa, exhausted, said, "We finally made it. We sure took the long way though."

Sephiroth nodded. "You're right . . . we have taken far too long." He turned towards Cloud. "We have to go in now . . ."

"I can't wait!" Tifa said. "I've always wondered . . ."

Cloud gave her a stern look and cut her off. "Tifa, you wait here."

"I'm going inside too! I wanna see!"

Sephiroth climbed halfway up the metal stairs, and then looked over his shoulder at Tifa and said, "Only authorized people are allowed in. This place is full of Shinra's industrial secrets."

"But . . ."

Turning to the two remaining guards, he ordered, "Randall . . . Tego . . . take care of the lady."

The two guards immediately replied, "Yes, sir," and then blocked Tifa from the stairs while Sephiroth and Cloud entered the old reactor. "Sorry," Tego whispered to their surly guide.

Before he entered the reactor Cloud turned and saw Tifa with her arms crossed, mouthing something at the two guards. He shook his head and then entered.

The first thing he noticed was that this reactor wasn't as high-tech as the reactors in Midgar. This one had a lot less automated machines and rubbery piping and much more old-fashioned tools such as chains and pulleys.

"Amazing," Cloud said, staring at the old technologies around him.

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder. "There's no time for gawking . . . we're behind schedule as it is . . ."

_Behind schedule because of a faulty bridge and a dead member of the group,_ Cloud thought, but only nodded and then continued his way through the reactor.

As they descended down a steel ladder the overpowering smell of Mako swiftly increased in strength. Cloud wrinkled his nose and for a second thought that his eyes were going to start watering.

Crossing a small, layered bridge that carried them over a deep drop towards a pool of Mako, they were soon entering their targeted room.

10

The room they entered was bathed in muddled, red light, and felt noticeably warmer than the previous sections of the reactor.

"This is where we need to be?" Cloud asked.

Sephiroth nodded and then climbed the steel stairs in front of them.

The room was filled with dozens of metal pods, all aligned in symmetrical rows. The steel stairs that led through the center of the pods and up to the next door were as cold as ice.

As Cloud began to climb the steps he looked up at the door in front of him. Engraved on a metal plate above the door was the word 'Jenova'. When he reached Sephiroth he said, "Weird . . . didn't you say that Jenova was your mother's name?" He watched as Sephiroth struggled with the door. "The lock won't open?"

Sephiroth walked back down the stairs and then started examining one of the pods. Cloud followed him, noticing that the longing look from before was back on his leader's pale face.

"This is the reason for the malfunction," Sephiroth announced.

Cloud was still looking at the metal plate above the door.

_Jenova,_ he thought. _What a strange coincidence . . ._

"Cloud . . ." Sephiroth called, still standing in front of one of the pods. Cloud walked down the stairs and stood next to Sephiroth. The black-caped man continued, "This part is broken." He faced Cloud. "Cloud, close the valve."

"This is it?" Cloud asked. "This is what's creating monsters?"

Sephiroth ignored him, still looking at the various sections of the pods as well as the red-glowing pod chamber itself.

As Cloud worked at closing the valve Sephiroth walked to another pod close by, his face blank. He said aloud, "But why did it break?" He stood on his toes and peered into the pod through the small, glass portal. His eyes widened.

"What?" Cloud asked, noticing the rapid change of expression.

Seemingly to himself, Sephiroth said, "Now I see, Hojo. But . . . even doing this will never put you on the same level as Professor Gast." Cloud finished and walked over to him. Facing Cloud, Sephiroth continued, "This is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy. That is, when it is working correctly."

"Okay . . ."

"Now, what does Mako energy become when it's further condensed?" Sephiroth questioned, a knowing look in his Mako-infused eyes.

Cloud answered, "Um . . . oh yeah! It becomes materia."

"Right, normally. But Hojo – and I'm only guessing that it was Hojo, although I'm fairly positive that only he would do such a thing - put something else in there. Take a look through the window."

Cloud cautiously looked through the glass window and into the pod. A hideous, unnatural monster with oddly grotesque body distortions was sitting in the Mako. Cloud dropped to the floor, scared and confused. "Wha . . . what is this!? What the hell was that!?"

Sephiroth took a look in a few more of the pods and then replied, "Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You're different from the others, but still ultimately human. But these . . . they've been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you. Quite literally they are bathing in Mako."

Getting up to his feet, Cloud asked, "So this is one of the monsters?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Exactly. And I believe that it's Dorian Hojo of Shinra, Inc. that is producing these monsters. They are mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monsters really are." He paused, looking at the size of the former human. "I imagine that after they are released from the pods that the monsters continue to mutate until their chaos-driven cells finally slow down. That's probably why they end up in all sorts of shapes and sizes . . . unless Hojo has something to do with that as well."

Inside the pod the creature twitched, causing both of them to jump.

Cloud asked, "What did you mean when you said 'normal members of SOLDIER'? Do you mean that you're different?" He observed yet another transformation on Sephiroth's face. "Sephiroth?"

The next minute seemed to last an eternity. Cloud could only sit and watch while Sephiroth suddenly lost control.

The black-caped man bent over and started to violently clutch at his own head. Confused, Cloud yelled, "Hey, Sephiroth! What's happening?"

Trembling and furiously shivering, Sephiroth cried, "No . . . NO! Was I . . ." He took out his sword and started to swing at the pods. Cloud jumped away from the whizzing sword and metal splinters of debris. Sephiroth continued, his voice thin and menacing, "Was I created this way too? Am I the same as these monsters?" He sliced his blade wildly through the muggy, red air.

"Sephiroth . . ."

With anger and aggression Sephiroth continued to slash away at the pods. "You saw it! All of them . . . were human!"

Shaking his head, Cloud cried, "Human!? No way! Not anymore!"

With his sword still drawn Sephiroth faced Cloud. "I've always felt since I was small . . . that I was different from the others. Special in some way. But . . . not like this . . ."

He again started to violently shake his head and scream, but was interrupted by a loud noise in the room. They both jerked their heads around and saw one of the pods explode.

"What the!?" Cloud shouted, and after looking at Sephiroth's sinister face took two large steps away from the pod row.

Steam hissed and clouded the area. A flurry of sparks shot out of the overturned pod.

When the steam cleared it revealed another monster like the ones they had seen in the pods near them. Choking for air and wheezing, the creature quivered on the overturned dome of metal.

Cloud was about to make a run for it when Sephiroth said, "Don't worry . . . it's too early for this detestable creation."

Cloud still felt the impulse to flee, but soon realized that Sephiroth was right. Staring at the creature he saw that its legs were literally dripping off of its body. One arm was missing, along with pieces of its flailing abdomen. Even its head was shrinking, excess ichors of matter were visibly clotting and then seeping in the warm air.

It had not fully formed, and would never have the chance.

Soundlessly its repulsive form twitched another few moments before its Mako-scorched body died.

11

Cloud looked around at the horrified faces in the room.

"That's horrible!" Aeris said.

"Damn nasty!" Barret agreed.

Cloud nodded. "'Am I . . . human?' I didn't quite understand what Sephiroth was saying at the time. I was even more surprised by the fact that Shinra was producing monsters."

"It wouldn't surprise any of us these days," Red 13 said.

Barret nodded and then shouted, "Damn, Shinra! That more I hear, the more I hate 'em!"

Wide-eyed, Tifa said, "Who would have ever thought that the Mako reactor held a secret like that?"

Stretching out, Red 13 added, "That would seem to explain the increase in the number of monsters in recent years . . . even if the Shinra say they are eliminating them on sight."

Aeris asked, "So Tifa . . . you were waiting outside then?"

Tifa looked at Cloud, and then at Aeris. ". . . Yes."

Cloud looked away from Tifa and then continued, "We returned to Nibelheim late that night. It had been a difficult climb back down the mountain in the dark." He paused, closing his eyes. "Sephiroth confined himself at the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me. He didn't try and talk to any of us . . ."

"Then all of the sudden he just disappeared, right?" Tifa questioned.

Cloud opened his eyes and nodded. He took another short sip of water and then said, "We found him inside of the biggest building in Nibelheim. The villagers used to call it Shinra Mansion. Long ago, people that would later form what is now Shinra, Inc. used to live in that mansion . . ."

12

Stepping inside the Shinra Mansion, Cloud felt the hair immediately stand up on the back of his neck. Dusty and dark, with an abundance of creaking floorboards, the mansion proved to be a ghostly sight. Randall, who he was following, looked frightened as well.

A giant, semi-carpeted staircase sat in the middle of the foyer, and as the two men approached the stairs, Cloud asked, "And you're sure you've checked all of the rooms?"

Randall sighed, having heard this question twice before. "Yeah, Cloud . . . I'm sure. And like I said, Tego seems to know exactly what room Sephiroth went into last."

"But there's no sign of him there?"

Randall only shook his head.

They climbed the grand staircase and took a right down a ghastly hallway that was only lit by hints of sunlight that had snuck in through the mostly-boarded-up windows.

Most of the doors along the hallway were closed. The only room where the door had been left ajar was murky and dark. Sitting on the floor against the wall was a lone coffin.

_I'm kind of glad that the other doors were closed,_ Cloud thought, and then swallowed hard.

Randall stopped outside of the room at the end of the hall. Tego quickly came into sight and said, "There's no sign of Sephiroth, but I know I saw him go into this room."

Cloud walked into the dark bedroom. He carefully checked the room for a trap door or some other type of exit. It was when he was examining the fireplace that a secret door revealed itself.

"You didn't check very hard," Cloud said, but not unkindly.

Tego only shrugged, and then looked through the new passageway. It looked like the entrance way to a deep abyss. Shaking his head, Tego exclaimed, "Better you than me, anyways, Cloud . . ."

Cloud smirked and then began descending the new set of creaking stairs.

13

Slowly walking down the long spiral staircase Cloud shivered in the expectation of something unknown. But soon enough he reached the bottom unharmed, and from where he stood he could see a light up ahead through the dark cave that stood before him.

Almost at a sprint he ran through the gloomy cave and reached the hidden room. He could hear Sephiroth talking to himself inside.

Cloud soon found out that in the basement of the Shinra Mansion an old library existed, along with a few other scientific devices to which he could place no recognizable purpose. He could see Sephiroth pacing back and forth, absorbed in a thick, green-covered tome.

Unaware of Cloud's presence, completely absorbed in the book, Sephiroth read aloud to himself, "An organism, that was apparently dead, was found in a two thousand year old geological stratum. Professor Gast named that organism, Jenova." He stopped pacing. "X Year, X Month, X Day, Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient. X Year, X Month, X Day, Jenova Project approved. The use of Mako reactor 1 in Nibelheim approved for trial." He again paced down a small hallway surrounded by hundreds of thick books, each with identical forest-green covers. He looked up from the book. Still to himself, he said, "My mother's name was Jenova. Jenova Project . . . is this just a coincidence?" He looked down at his feet. "Professor Gast . . . why didn't you tell me anything? Why did you have to die?"

Cloud knew that nothing he could say or do would break Sephiroth's concentration on the books, so he went back upstairs.

14

"Day after day," Cloud continued to the group surrounding him inside of the inn's bedroom, "the bookshelves became emptier, and the stacks of books on the floor grew higher. He didn't come out of the Shinra Mansion's basement. He didn't or he wouldn't . . . I'm not sure. Either way, he continued to read as if he was possessed by something." Cloud paused for a moment, truly picturing the hidden room in the Shinra Mansion's basement. After a short sigh, he said, "Not once did the hanging lights in the basement go out . . ."


	43. 3-9 New Ways

9. New Ways

1

"What do you mean 'he's not in any of the jail cells'?" Tseng Stehr shouted at his red-haired companion, Reno.

The younger Turk had been allowed to come back to Headquarters, but his injuries were going to keep him out of the field for some time. Adjusting his logoed headband and then massaging his arm, Reno Joolston replied, "It's like I said, the Krane man isn't anywhere to be found." His voice sounded nasally because of his damaged nose.

Tseng rolled his thin eyes. Someone had finally thought to review the security tape from the night that AVALANCHE had invaded the Shinra Headquarters, and Tseng had been informed that a man named Krane – whose plentiful duties also included the maintenance and upholding of the sole fire escape's stairway – had been apprehended. Krane's shirking of his responsibilities had cost the Shinra dearly that night.

"Find Heideggar," the leader of the Turks said. "He's the only one who could've authorized the unlocking of one of the cells."

Tseng sighed, realizing that a situation that could've been taken care of quickly and efficiently was now going to amount to something greater.

"Sir," Reno said, and then checked to see if they were still alone in the hallway.

"What?" Tseng bellowed. "I told you to find Heideggar. We need to get to the bottom of this . . ."

"But sir," Reno calmly said, "what if the President himself authorized the release?"

Tseng balked, and probably would've laughed under other circumstances. "What the hell are you talking about, Reno? Why would the President do such a thing? If he knew what this man Krane did then . . ."

The leader of the Turks trailed off.

_Why would the President do such a thing?_ he thought. _Well, because all he thinks about is Sephiroth and the Promised Land . . . and because he doesn't understand the importance of punishment._

Tseng shook his head, aware that Reno was watching him.

_But that's not exactly true, either,_ he thought. _We've all heard about what the President likes to do on his down time . . ._

It seemed that Reno understood all too well what the current situation might entail. "Sir, if I may speak plainly . . . I'm not so sure that the President is in complete control of his emotions."

There was a pause and it seemed that Reno was about to continue, but Tseng waved his hand. "No . . . I understand what you're saying. But . . . what do you think he's done with Krane?"

Reno shrugged. "Well, seeing as Krane isn't a woman . . . I'd have to guess that instead of a proper death – proper meaning public, of course – that the President simply took matters into his own hands."

Staring into his comrade's eyes, Tseng asked, "And would that really be such a bad thing?"

Reno shook his head. "No . . . it wouldn't."

"But it doesn't feel that way . . ."

Nodding, Reno agreed, "Yeah . . . it feels like something more." He paused. "I just don't know how I feel about working under someone like that, you know? We Turks do some shady things once in a while, all for the greater good, of course, but what the President does to those girls . . . that's unforgivable."

"Yeah," Tseng said, recalling a time not so long again when he'd been close to violating the emerald-eyed Ancient within her jail cell. "Yeah, it's certainly not good . . ."

Reno stared at his leader for a moment, and then asked, "So what are we going to do?"

Trying to smile, Tseng replied, "We'll do what we have to . . . we'll endure. The President may do some . . . unwarrantable things . . . and he may not seem to have his priorities straight at times . . . but Reno . . ."

"Sir?"

"We're Turks, and although our positions are life-long, we can't make the mistake of thinking that we're out of bounds when it comes to Rufus' wrath." Tseng sighed, knowing that it was all too true. "You have to be weary of him, especially since you'll be spending a lot of your days here at Headquarters."

"I understand," Reno said. "But it's difficult . . ."

Tseng smiled and placed a hand on Reno's shoulder. "And it will be . . . but that's because these are new times, Reno. And with new times comes new ways." He paused, seeing that Reno was not convinced. "And just think . . . if the President's actions do lead to the finding of the Promised Land, all of these . . . insignificant things . . . will be forgotten in the long run."

Reno was silent for some time, but then said, "I suppose you're right . . . I mean, can you even imagine how good things will get once the Promised Land has actually been found?"

"Exactly," Tseng said. "But in the meantime, while we'll still follow the orders coming from President Rufus himself, we'll also listen to what Heideggar has to say."

Reno questioned, "So right now . . . the number one priority is still finding Sephiroth?" When Tseng nodded, Reno continued, "Why is he so sure that Sephiroth is going to lead them to the Promised Land anyways?"

Tseng shrugged. "Rufus . . . that is, President Rufus Shinra, claims that the black-caped man spoke of the Promised Land just before he killed our previous President. That fat man from the Space Program, Palmer, also claims that he heard Sephiroth speak on the same topic."

"So it's definitely real?" Reno asked, and then massaged his injured leg with his injured arm. "The Promised Land is real?"

Tseng wanted to say 'yes', but in his heart he really didn't know. Instead he replied, "Reno . . . we all better hope that it's real . . . and that it contains a magnificent amount of Mako . . ."

"Yeah," Reno said, uncertainty still written across his face.

"But hey," Tseng said, patting the red-haired man on the back, "I'm sure you've been looking for things to do since being cooped up in this building all of the time, so why don't you head back over to the jail cells and see if our stubborn friend with the fake leather jacket has anything to say about his AVALANCHE friends yet." Before Reno could open his mouth, Tseng continued, "And yes . . . I'll let you know what I find out concerning the Krane man. It's probably nothing serious anyways . . ."

Tseng would soon find out that he was very wrong.

2

President Rufus Shinra sat at a desk on the 69th floor, in an office that only hours ago had the name 'Krane' written on its door. He didn't enjoy the somewhat-cramped atmosphere, but a section of window was currently being fixed on his own floor one level up and he couldn't tolerate the noise any longer.

_If this guy Reeve doesn't get here soon the maintenance team might find that they have another window to fix before this night is over . . ._

The thought brought Rufus back to the fun he'd had hours earlier – the first fun he'd had since everything had gone to chaos.

No one was saying anything to his face, but he knew that all of them were criticizing him for his actions. And he just couldn't understand the why of it.

_Don't they understand that Sephiroth is our middle man? Don't they see that he will be our access to the Promised Land? The actions of a small band of rebels are nothing compared to the importance of finding the mythical land._

And so lately it seemed that he was spending all of his time reassigning the teams of guards and Turks and SOLDIER's, all the while knowing that their hearts were not in it.

_How did my old man deal with this? How could he observe their pathetic faces and keep himself from killing them?_

Rufus himself was having a very hard time restraining the murderous urge, and the boring patience of it all was taking its toll on him.

But then he'd heard word from Heideggar that an employee named Krane had been somewhat responsible for the AVALANCHE intrusion and was currently locked up in one of the jail cells. And while Rufus couldn't have cared less about the AVALANCHE incident now that Sephiroth was in the picture, he also understood that the Krane man could serve as a scapegoat for his increasingly growing anger.

The President smiled to himself and glanced down at his hands. There were still tiny flecks of blood that had dried under a few of his fingernails.

He'd told Heideggar that he was going to take care of the man personally, that the man was better off dead.

What he hadn't told his closest advisor was that he'd already talked to Krane, and had tricked him into believing that his life would be spared. All the while a few trying-hard-to-prove-themselves Shinra guards had been sent down into the city to snatch Krane's wife and children.

Rufus closed his eyes, letting the memory roll through him, a crashing wave of ecstasy.

In no time at all Krane had realized that his life was not going to be spared – quite the opposite in fact, the life he knew was going to be ruined.

Rufus remembered the look in Krane's eyes as he and his two sons watched their wife and mother remove her clothes in front of the President.

He remembered the sounds they began to make as Rufus himself took his clothes off and then quickly began to punish the woman sexually.

He remembered the taste of the woman's blood as he first punched and then licked the side of the woman's head.

He even remembered the smell of the room afterwards. And not just the forbidding smell of sexual decay, but the pungent smell of fear that had encircled the vast room.

When he'd been tired of the woman's screams and had no more use for her quivering body, he'd pushed her as hard as he could, momentarily forgetting that she was standing so close to one of the bay windows. Still screaming, the woman had plowed through the glass and then fallen out of sight in seconds.

Rufus had never watched someone die after falling a great distance and had found that it was quite exhilarating. It had pleased him so much that he had speedily raced over to the rope-tied and sobbing captives and slowly dragged them toward the jagged hole of broken glass.

Doing this all with a smile on his face the only thing he'd said to the father of the two hysterically crying children was, "Just be glad that you didn't have any daughters . . ."

Now, still sitting at Krane's desk, Rufus sighed exaggeratedly yet pleasantly. The pleasurable memory would last him for some time.

To make things even better, Reeve Tuesti finally appeared in front of him.

"It's about time . . ." the President said, a slack smile on his face, the recent memory still in his head.

"Sorry, sir," Reeve said.

Rufus sighed again and then shrugged. "No matter . . . Heideggar and a few others have told me all about you, Reeve."

The bearded man was silent for a moment and then inquired, "Sir?"

Rufus smiled. "Oh . . . don't worry yourself too much about it. The important thing is . . . I'm in need of your immediate assistance . . ."

Rufus went on to tell Reeve why he was so desperately needed, and when Reeve tried to say 'no', Rufus quickly convinced him to change his mind.


	44. 3-10 Cloud's Story - IV

10. Cloud's Story – IV

1

"We waited days for Sephiroth to come out of the hidden library in the Shinra Mansion's basement," Cloud continued. He'd been talking so long that his throat was getting hoarse, but he knew that his story was coming to a close. "I don't remember much about those few days. I probably saw my mom some." He paused and looked at Tifa. "And if your dad allowed it I probably saw you, too." When Tifa only continued to stare at him he sighed and continued, "Anyways . . . what we didn't – or I guess, couldn't – grasp, was the change happening within Sephiroth . . ."

2

"So . . ." Cloud said as he walked along the road towards the mansion. "Just more of the same?"

Tego shrugged. "I don't know if I'd say more of the same . . ."

The two men climbed the small lift in the road and then angled their way towards the Shinra Mansion.

"What would you say then?" Cloud asked.

They walked a few yards before Tego replied, "Well . . . he's getting louder than he's been in the past couple of days."

"Louder?"

"Yeah," Tego said, nodding. "We've heard him laughing to himself, and . . ." He trailed off.

Cloud stopped and turned towards him. "And . . . what?"

"And we've heard him speaking – sometimes screaming, actually – and it wasn't in the Common tongue."

Cloud tried to wrap his head around that. "Not in the Common tongue . . . you mean he was speaking in a different language?"

Tego shrugged again. "I don't know, Cloud . . . he just hasn't seemed himself. And I know you told me only to send Randall down every so often, but I went once myself . . . and he barely noticed me." He turned to face Cloud. "And you know just how much he usually enjoys my company."

Cloud cracked a smile but his mind was still exploring the possibility of Sephiroth speaking in a different language.

He asked, "Where did you grow up?"

Perplexed, Tego questioned, "What? Grew up?"

"Yeah. You know, where did you live when you were younger and went to school?"

"Oh," Tego responded, still unsure why this question was being asked. "I grew up in Janisville, although by then it was already being called Rocket Town."

"The name's not important," Cloud said. "When you did go to school though, do you remember what they taught you about the universal language?"

Tego nodded. "Yeah . . . they said that the Common tongue has been used for as far back as people remember, but that another language had existed at one point in time."

Cloud watched as comprehension crept into Tego's face.

"You mean . . ." Tego gasped, "you think that Sephiroth could've been . . . speaking the language of the Ancients?"

Raising his brow, Cloud asked, "You tell me . . . your guess is as good as mine."

Tego fell silent and remained that way as they entered the mansion and climbed the stairs to the second floor. As they walked down the hallway towards the last bedroom the Shinra guard whispered, "Whatever he was saying . . . it didn't sound nice."

They reached the bedroom and found Randall wide-eyed and standing on the opposite side of the room from the secret entrance.

The guard turned to Cloud and Tego and said, "He's been doing it again . . . that crazy laughing . . . and that crazy language."

Cloud swallowed hard as he looked into the entrance to the winding stairs, and then said, "Randall, head back to the inn and get some rest . . . Tego, wait here for me. I won't be long, I just need to talk to him . . . whether he wants to or not."

"Be careful," Randall said.

Cloud tried to smile, but wasn't sure how successful he was at it. "Don't worry, it's just Sephiroth . . . no matter what's happening to him." He took a few steps towards the secret entrance and said, "He's not dangerous . . ."

3

He walked slowly down to the basement, keeping his increasingly shaky hand on the rickety railing.

A bout of sinister laughter suddenly pulsed up the vertical tunnel, and Cloud felt spiders of chill creep up his spine.

_It does sound crazy,_ he thought. _He does sound crazy . . ._

He increased his pace, suddenly wanting to be done with all of this as soon as possible. It was when he reached the bottom of the stairs that he heard the maniacal rush of words coming out of his leader's mouth.

"Estuans interius . . ."

Cloud took a deep breath, the opening of the library in sight.

"Ira vehementi . . ."

He took a few small steps and then increased his pace, his sights on the room of light in front of him.

"Sors immanis . . ."

Cloud reached the doorway, but couldn't find the strength to cross the threshold, every piece of his inner will seemed to be crumbling.

"Et inanis . . ."

After this last outburst of speech an eerie silence overcame the hidden basement. Closing his eyes Cloud stepped through the doorway.

The first thing he noticed once inside the library was that every bookshelf in sight was now completely bare. The hundreds of green-covered books that had been on the shelves were now piled randomly all across the room.

Walking down the hallway of stacked and piled books to another inner room Cloud could hear more of the menacing laughter coming from Sephiroth.

As Cloud slowly entered the room, Sephiroth snapped, "Who is it!?" Seated at a large desk, surrounded by more thick tomes, the black-caped man looked up grimly at Cloud. "Oh . . . it's you." He snarled and looked away. "Hmph . . . traitor."

Confused, Cloud repeated, "'Traitor'?"

Sephiroth's Mako-infused eyes darted back and met Cloud's own. "You are an ignorant traitor . . . and I'll tell you why." He swiveled his chair around and faced the wall, showing Cloud the back of his long, silver hair. "This Planet originally belonged to the Cetra. The Cetra were an itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, and then move on. At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land as well as supreme happiness." He spun around and faced Cloud. "But . . . those that disliked the journey came forward over the years. Those who felt they'd done enough, that they shouldn't have to work so hard. They declared that instead of doing their duty that they would instead stop their migrations and build shelters here on this Planet. They elected to lead an easier life. They took that which the Cetra and the Planet together had made without giving one whit in return!" He slowly looked up at Cloud, his mouth still a moving shadow of hatred and antipathy. He finished, "Those are _your_ ancestors."

Hardly understanding anything he had just heard, Cloud only whispered, "Sephiroth . . ."

Growing louder, Sephiroth continued, "Long ago, after your pathetic ancestors split apart from the Cetra, disaster struck the Planet. Your ancestors escaped. They survived because they hid! The Planet was saved by sacrificing the clans of Cetra that had been here still trying to convince the traitors to change their newfound ways! The Cetra knew that they could save the Planet by joining the Lifestream, and do you know how to join the Lifestream? You must die! You're Spirit Energy involuntarily finds its way to the Lifestream, giving it strength. With the new abundance of Spirit Energy the Lifestream was able to heal the Planet's wound. After that, your useless ancestors continued to increase." He looked around at the scattered books. "Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports."

Cloud swallowed and said, "Sephiroth . . . I don't understand. What does all of that have to do with you?"

Sephiroth slammed his gloved fist down on the desk before picking up a particularly thick book. "Don't you get it?" he yelled before standing up and walking next to Cloud. "An Ancient named Jenova was found in a two-thousand year old geological stratum. The Jenova Project." He put a hand on his pallid face. "The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients - the Cetra." Glaring his eyes he raised the book over his head and whispered, "I am the one that was produced . . ."

Cloud's eyes widened. Still baffled, he shouted, "Pro . . . produced!?"

"Yes," Sephiroth answered with a wicked smile. "Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me . . . I am the product of Experiment: 2131. Everything is in these books." He started to walk down the hallway but stopped before he reached the door. "And since I've discovered the secrets of my life . . . I've been starting to feel things . . . differently. I've been starting to see things . . . differently . . ." He clenched his fists and then yelled, "Estuans interius! Sors immanis! Veni veni venias! Ne me mori facias! Haryuu no . . . hanekata!"

Cloud's mind was whirling - he remembered the episode Sephiroth had had involving those same numbers back in the Junon locker room, but the young SOLDIER quickly brought his mind back to the present. "Sephiroth," he pleaded. "I don't . . . how . . . how did he . . .? Produced?" Cloud shook his head and ran to him. "Sephiroth . . . please . . ."

With ease the black-caped man slammed his forearm into Cloud's head, sending him to the floor. "Out of my way," he whispered. "I'm going to see Jenova . . . I'm going to see my mother." With determination and anxiety he marched proudly out of the library, leaving Cloud to black out on the cold basement floor.

4

When Cloud came to, freezing and dizzy, he could smell smoke . . . and hear screams.

Running as fast as he could he raced out of the library and then climbed the spiral staircase.

"No!" he screamed when he reached the bedroom. He felt his heart speeding double-time as he observed the mess on the floor in front of him that had been Tego. "Oh, no . . ." he said, and then his vision was changing.

Suddenly Tego was whole again, and Cloud watched as Sephiroth climbed the spiral stairs and exited into the bedroom.

"Sephiroth?" Cloud heard Tego ask, his face going pale.

The black-caped man smiled and then slowly unsheathed his sword. "Yes . . . it is I . . ."

Cloud shook his head and then screamed for Tego to run, although he knew that it was too late.

Tego said, "Sephiroth . . . is everything okay? Where's Cloud?"

Faster than his eyes could follow, Sephiroth dashed forward and plunged his long blade into Tego's belly.

Tego shrieked as his body began to tremble. "Sephiroth," he gurgled, his mouth filling with blood, pain in his failing eyes.

Sephiroth leisurely twisted the impaled blade, a smile still on his face. "Still haven't learned to shut that mouth of yours, huh?" He twisted the thin blade again, causing dark blood to trickle out of the expanding wound. "It's time you learn your lesson . . ."

Tego screamed again, the noises coming out of his mouth not even words anymore, and then Sephiroth yanked the blade out of him. The silver-haired man then proceeded to lift the blade and place it against Tego's quavering mouth.

"No!" Cloud screamed, unable to help it.

With a scream of his own to match Tego's shrill voice, Sephiroth violently shifted his arm, forcing the blade across Tego's mouth. The dying man's face seemed to rip open as Sephiroth once again sliced across, and then again and again, the various wounds opening wider and becoming bloodier by the second.

After a few more slices Sephiroth finally yanked Tego by his hair and aimed the tip of his sword at Tego's mouth before driving it into the back of his throat. He then released the man's hair and Cloud saw that Sephiroth was holding Tego's lifeless body only by his punctured gullet.

"Perhaps that will stop your prattling mouth," Sephiroth said, and then ripped his sword back with one arm as he pushed the corpse with his other. Tego fell limply to the blood-messed floor.

Cloud's vision suddenly changed again, and without taking another glance around the room he started running for the hallway.

Before long he was down the stairs and out the front door. The sight beyond almost stopped his heart. The entire town was consumed with raging fires. Black smoke billowed high into the sky, darker than the blackest night. He felt his knees lose strength, but he knew that he had to go into the ravaged town.

Crying and racing down the hill, burning from the intense heat of the flames, Cloud saw body after body, all punctured, all ripped every which way. It wasn't until he arrived at the town square that he saw someone alive and moving.

Zangan, the martial arts instructor that he'd met on the first night Shinra had entered Nibelheim, apparently saw him as well because he cried out, "Hey, it's you! Come over and help me!" Cloud ran to him, leaping over a piece of flaming debris. "I'll check this house. You check that one over there!"

The heat burned his skin but he didn't care, everything was gone. On the ground near him was Samardo, the photographer, dead. Cloud watched Zangan run into the house next to the inn, but he knew which house that he needed to check.

As he raced past the burning wood of the old well towards his mother's house he saw Randall lying on the smoking ground. The guard moaned, "Sephiroth . . ."

Again Cloud's vision changed.

"Why are you doing this!?" Randall screamed as Sephiroth sent flames out of his palm towards another unlit structure.

Laughing at the sky, Sephiroth turned towards Randall and shouted, "Because you are all traitors!" He then sprinted forward and stabbed at Randall's chest, sending his blade smashing through skin, blood, and bone, and then out of Randall's back. "Traitors . . ."

Cloud saw Randall choking for air. Sephiroth smiled and pulled out his sword. He then pushed Randall to the ground and set the house just beyond him on fire.

"Cloud . . ."

Snapping back to the present, Cloud saw Randall's eyes staring up at him.

"Cloud . . . I . . ."

Cloud felt tears of sadness and anger flood out of his eyes as Randall died in front of him.

"I can't believe this . . ." Cloud said to himself, not realizing that he was speaking aloud. Running past Randall and into the house beyond him - his mother's house - he braced himself for the flames. Screaming from the burning sensation all over his body and crying heavily, nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his mother, dead and ablaze.

His vision began to change again, and he heard laughter joining the transition. He knew then that Sephiroth was doing this. Sephiroth was somehow showing him all of the brutal things that he hadn't seen himself.

"No!" Cloud screamed, and willed the sight in front of him to vanish. To his amazement, it did, and he wasn't forced to watch his mother squirming on the floor of his old house, encased in fire.

Scorched and hurting badly he quickly ran back outside and then towards the sound of the laughter, screaming in physical and emotional pain. "Sephiroth! You bastard! This is horrible! SEPHIROTH!"

Back towards the mansion, and on the other side of a wall of fire Cloud could see Sephiroth walking towards the mountain path.

A couple that had escaped their house before succumbing to the spreading flames was standing on the start of the path, bewildered and crying. As Sephiroth passed the sobbing man and woman he took out his mighty sword and pierced their bodies, grinning wildly as he did so. With one swift blow they were both dead, and in seconds their unmoving bodies were consumed in the inferno of flames.

Turning back and facing Cloud with an empty expression on his face, his eyes blazing, Sephiroth grinned, and then proceeded towards the mountain path, walking _through_ the wavering wall of flames.

5

Tired and badly hurt, Cloud trudged along the mountain path, following Sephiroth as fast as he could. He had to stop every so often just so that he could breathe, his lungs burning with every step that he took. Despite how fast he was running, Sephiroth was still somehow faster than him.

When he finally reached the reactor, his legs feeling dead beneath him, Cloud climbed the steps and ran inside. He immediately ran forward and then jumped down the ladder. But when he got to the bridge his momentum was more than his tired legs could take. He tripped, falling face-first onto the bridge.

Looking up he could see that Tifa was in front of him, and that she was kneeling next to her dead father.

Within the distance of the dead man's blood, Sephiroth's sword lay on the platform just beyond the bridge. Tifa was screaming at the top of her lungs and crying hysterically.

Kneeling over her dead father she screamed continuously, her face the definition of anguish. Touching her father's face and listening to the sound of her voice's echo, she yelled, "Papa . . ." She slammed her fist on the ground next to him. "Sephiroth!?" She stood up in a fit of rage. "Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?" She looked up towards the sky.

Cloud wished he could comfort her. He couldn't move. His entire body felt numb.

Tifa shook her fists and aggressively screamed, "Sephiroth . . . SOLDIER . . . Mako reactors . . . Shinra . . . Everything! I hate them all!" Her eyes burned with hatred. She bent over, looked at her father, and then picked up the long blade that had killed him. Shaking her head violently she screamed and ran into the next room of the reactor, out of sight.

Cloud agonizingly stood up and followed her into the next room – which he suddenly realized was the pod room that he and Sephiroth had been to the last time they'd been here.

Bathed in red light he saw Sephiroth again at the top of the stairs, standing in front of the steel door.

The silver-haired man placed his hands on the door. "Mother, I'm here to see you. Please, open the door."

Tifa, holding Sephiroth's bloody blade, stood at the bottom of the stairs. "How could you do that to Papa and all of the townspeople!?" In a blind fury she ran up the stairs, holding out the sword. When she tried to attack Sephiroth he easily wrestled the blade from her. With a quick snap of the wrist he swung at her, cutting her chest and sending her flopping down the cold steps. Before she reached the bottom her head forcefully slammed into one of the metal pods.

Cloud ran and kneeled by her. Above them the door opened and Sephiroth disappeared into the next room.

Tifa was ghostly pale and shivering. "You promised . . . you promised that you'd come . . . when I was in trouble . . ." Her eyes closed.

Gently, Cloud picked her up and then tenderly leaned her against one of the pods. Taking one last look at her, and deeply hoping that she would be alright, he rushed up the stairs after Sephiroth.

6

Once inside the room, Cloud saw Sephiroth standing in front of Jenova and stopped his run. The creature that Sephiroth was looking at with such love and admiration was a bizarre female-being presently hidden beneath odd looking angelic armor. Massive amounts of wires and cords connected her to multiple machines and other electrical equipment in the back of the steam-filled room.

Sephiroth faced her with his arms raised. "Mother, let's take this Planet back together. I've thought of a great idea. Let's go to the Promised Land . . ." There was nothing but triumph on his face and in his voice.

Cloud stepped forward and then screamed with anger, both fists tightly clenched. "Sephiroth! My family! My hometown! How could you do this to them!?"

Sephiroth, in a craze of sanity, started laughing and bouncing his shoulders. "Ha ha ha! They've come again, Mother!" He stopped laughing and looked up at her metallic form. Talking to Cloud, he said, "With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Mother was destined to become the ruler of this Planet." He started reaching for the being in front of him again. "But they . . . those worthless creatures . . . are stealing the Planet from you. But now, I'm here with you . . . so don't worry . . ." With tremendous force he tore the upper half of the freezing-cold armor off of her, snapping wires and intricate machinery. Jenova's true form, a fragile alien-woman with blue-colored skin from the intense freezing she'd endured, was now revealed.

But Cloud barely saw Jenova, his raging eyes still focused on Sephiroth. He brandished his sword and screamed, "How can you say those things!? How could you have changed so fast!?" He screamed with violent rage and creeping sorrow. "What about my sadness!? My family, my friends!? What about the sadness of having my hometown taken away from me!? It's the same as your sadness!"

Sephiroth stood by Jenova, holding his arms and sword high. "Ha ha ha . . . my sadness? What do I have to be sad about? I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet. I have orders to take this Planet back from you pitiable people . . . orders from the Cetra! I feel it in my soul! This is my true purpose!" He turned around and faced Cloud. "What am I supposed to be sad about?"

Cloud faced the ground. "Sephiroth . . . I trusted you . . ." He looked up and raised his sword. "No . . . you're not the same man that I used to know . . ."

"Indeed," Sephiroth said, grinning sadistically. "I am no man . . . I am a god . . ."

Holding their swords out, prepared for battle, the two slowly started walking towards each other, ready to end each other's lives.

7

Cloud sighed. "And that's the end of my story."

Barret stood up and yelled, "What!? Wait a damn minute! Ain't there more?"

". . . I don't remember," Cloud replied, his head lowering.

Aeris questioned, "What happened to Sephiroth?"

"In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him."

Tifa exclaimed, "Official records state that Sephiroth is dead. I read it in a newspaper some time later in Midgar."

Aeris looked at her. "Shinra, Inc. owns the newspaper, Tifa, so you can't rely on that information."

Taking a deep breath, Cloud said, "I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened then. I challenged Sephiroth . . . and lived. Why didn't he kill me?"

Tifa added, "I'm alive, too."

"Seems like a lot of this doesn't make sense," Aeris said. "What about Jenova? It . . . or she . . . was in the Shinra building, right?"

Cloud replied, "I'm guessing that Shinra shipped it from Nibelheim to Midgar."

Aeris asked, "Did someone else carry it out after that? It was missing from the Shinra building, right?"

"Sephiroth?" Tifa questioned.

Everyone fell silent for a minute, their minds seemingly racing a million miles an hour.

Barret stood up and stomped his foot. "Damn! Don't none of this make sense!?" He headed for the stairs. "Goddamn! I'm going, going, going . . . gone!"

Tifa stood and hesitantly walked over to Cloud. As she reached for her head, she asked, "Cloud . . . how bad was I when Sephiroth cut me?"

He looked deeply into her brown eyes. "I thought you were a goner . . . I was really sad."

Tifa gave him a peculiar look and seemed as though she was going to say something else. After a pregnant pause she closed her eyes and then turned away from him.

Aeris appeared to be talking to herself, anxiety welling in her watery eyes. "I . . ." She took a breath. "The Ancients . . . Cetra . . . Jenova . . . Sephiroth and myself . . ." A tear fell from her eye. "It's all so much . . ."

Tifa comforted her with a short hug. "Let's get going . . . Barret's waiting. The answers will come with time."

Cloud couldn't help but think that Tifa's encouraging words were meant for all of them, not just Aeris.

8

Everyone solemnly went down the stairs towards the lobby of the inn except Red 13. Still seated by the window, wagging his tail curiously, he murmured, "What a fascinating story . . ."


	45. 3-11 A Walking Shadow

11. A Walking Shadow

1

Elmyra woke to blinding rays of sunshine pouring in through a nearby window. The light was dazzlingly bright, and for a minute she could only see a flashing whiteness along with a few accompanying blue and red swirls of color.

_Wait . . . _she thought. _The sun? Sunshine coming in through the windows?_

She sat up straight, only then realizing that Marlene had been snuggled up next to her on the unfamiliar bed.

She gazed around the room, her gradually adjusting eyes seeing a scattering of interior essentials all built out of a dark wood that paralleled the light wooden walls.

_Not in Midgar . . . not in the slums . . ._

She checked to see if she'd woken the girl, overtly aware that she'd done this same thing for countless nights now.

_But this is the first time I've done it outside of my own home . . ._

She stood up, quickly realizing how sore her old body was. She arched her back, listening for the crackle and pop of her hindered joints, but was only greeted by more pain.

As she slowly circled around the fair-sized bed, examining the room as well as the sights provided from the sole window, she soon realized that her legs were the sorest part of her. She was also beginning to remember how she'd gotten here.

2

The flooding adrenaline had helped, but the seemingly endless run in the opposite direction of the floating city was becoming too much for Elmyra as well as Marlene.

"I can't . . ." the old woman stammered, coming to a stop, her clammy hands on her aching knees. "I can't go any further . . ."

"But the monsters!" Marlene whimpered, her voice shaky, her face a mask of panic and pain.

Elmyra felt her sight dwindling away even as she stood gasping for air. "I know, child . . . but . . ." Her knees began to shake, and she knew that they would be giving out on her any second now. "Come closer . . ."

Marlene did as she was told, wheezing loudly, her tiny lungs doing their best to suck in as much air as they could

"I . . ." Elmyra started, and then felt her aching body leaning drastically in one direction. She tried to correct the weight shift but had too little strength to do so. After she toppled to the ground she saw Marlene kneeling next to her, a rush of words coming out of her tiny mouth. "I'm sorry . . ." Elmyra said, almost spitting out the words.

She quickly realized that in addition to the incomprehensible words coming out of Marlene's mouth, there was also renewed panic on her face. She'd at first associated this with the child having seen her fall, but she soon realized that Marlene's large, brown eyes were looking back and forth from her own to some unseen source.

Using the last bit of strength that she had left Elmyra rolled over and saw a no-longer-white pickup truck idling about sixty feet away.

_We're near the road,_ she thought, equal surges of hope and dread overcoming her simultaneously.

She knew that the approaching man could quite possibly be associated with Shinra, Inc., but that he could also be their savior.

When he was close enough for her to see his yellow- and black-checkered flannel shirt along with his pockmarked overalls, and when he asked, "Y'all need some help?", she breathed a sigh of relief.

She tried to respond. She tried to smile. Here was their savior after all.

But she could barely keep her head off of the ground.

And as she felt his calloused hands lift her off of the ground her sight maneuvered from rippling grass to glassy-paved road to the polyester interior of the truck.

When she saw that Marlene was sitting safely beside her she closed her eyes, and there was darkness.

3

She paced a while more around the room before she heard someone knocking at the door.

"Come in," she called.

The door swung open and the man that had rescued them entered the room. "Good morning," he said, his voice dusty. "I'm glad to see you awake."

Elmyra smiled. "Good morning to you as well . . . and thank you very much for what you've done for us."

He waved his hand, as if to say 'anyone else would've done the same'. "How y'all feelin'?"

She was about to respond when she realized that she was still hurting pretty badly. "Actually," she started, and then made her way to the bed. After sitting back down on the puffy comforter she said, "I am still hurting a bit."

"That's understandable," the man said. "From what your little girl told me, y'all ran a long way . . ."

_The muscles in my legs could tell you the same story,_ she thought.

"By the way," the man continued, "the name's Bill. Choco Bill, if you'd like, because Chocobo's are my life. Always have been."

"I'm Elmyra."

The two talked away the morning, and eventually were joined by Marlene who woke up just before the noon hour, but it wasn't long after they ate a quick meal that had been prepared for them by Choco Bill that Elmyra felt the need to retire again.

"I want to thank you once again," she said, feeling her eyelids growing heavier by the second. "I just . . . I . . ."

He waved his hand, cutting her off. "Don't need to be explaining nothing, Miss. Y'all just get some rest."

With a quick nod of his head he exited the room, and Elmyra and Marlene's tired bodies quickly did as they'd been told.

4

When Elmyra woke again it was dark outside. Marlene was still snoozing beside her so she carefully got off the bed, intending to inspect her legs and back again.

_Not much change,_ she thought, wincing at the staggering pain that was throbbing throughout her body.

Even after all of the sleep that she had gotten she still felt tired.

_And maybe that's a good thing,_ she mused. _When I'm sleeping I can't feel this lasting ache in my bones._

She turned to make her way back to the bed but felt a strange impulse to look out at the nightscape of rolling fields.

A wintry chill came over her as she looked into the starlit and swaying grass, for she saw a man slowly walking south, a stone's throw away from the Chocobo Farm.

She wasn't sure what it was about the man, an unknown traveler with long, silvery-gray hair and a billowing black cape, but he frightened her all the same.

_And is that a sword that he's . . ._

Suddenly the strolling, black-clad man turned in her direction. Even from where she stood she could see the peculiar, Mako-infused glow in his thin eyes.

A second later he turned away and continued to walk in the starlight, nothing more than a walking shadow.

Elmyra backed away from the window, her arms covered in gooseflesh. She swallowed hard and then made her way under the covers of the bed, thinking that she'd be seeing those same eerie, thin eyes in her dreams.

_In my nightmares, _she thought, and then closed her own eyes.

As Elmyra once again fell asleep a whisper of wind breathed in through the open window, carrying a cacophonous tune on its sporadic path.


	46. 3-12 Fragile Voice

12. Fragile Voice

1

"_That was some story . . ._"

Cloud awoke – at least, he thought he awoke.

Staring out in front of him all that he could see was darkness.

After he'd finished telling his story the team had gone downstairs to eat at the inn's dining hall but had ultimately decided to stay at the inn another night. It seemed he'd talked most of the day away.

Now, lying in bed, he could have sworn that he'd heard one of the others say something to him.

He moved his head, hoping to find the source of the voice through the black void in front of him.

Instead, the same voice, which he was now starting to recognize, whispered, "_Can you hear me?_"

"You again?" he said, giving up his search. He'd heard the same androgynous voice in the church in the slums, after his fall from the reactor.

"_Yes . . . me again,_" it said soothingly.

Cloud blinked – at least, it felt like he had blinked. It was such a strange sensation to see absolutely nothing when you knew that your eyes were open.

Finally he replied, "What are you? Who are you?" He paused. "And what do you want with me?"

The genderless voice sweetly replied, "_I just thought that I'd comment on the terrific story you spent the entirety of the day telling._"

"Terrific story?" he echoed disdainfully. "I wouldn't call a story that ends with most of my family and friends dying 'terrific'."

A strange thing followed this comment. The sexless voice didn't speak - it laughed. And in that laugh Cloud heard some form of mockery that he didn't understand.

"What . . .?" he began, mentally clenching his fists.

"_It's nothing,_" the voice in his head replied. "_I just found it interesting – yes, I listened along as well – those sections of the story that were somewhat . . . spotty._"

Cloud shook his head – at least, he thought he had shaken his head. "Spotty? It was a long time ago . . . and so much happened, I . . ."

"_No matter,_" the genderless voice whispered, the words silky smooth. "_It just seems strange that you would remember some details and not others . . ._"

"It's not my fault," Cloud spat. "Who are you? What the hell is happening to me?"

There was a pause before the androgynous voice said, "_Settle down, boy. I'm not bringing this up to upset you._"

"Oh, really?" Cloud asked sarcastically, thinking that that was exactly what the unknown source of the voice was doing.

"_Of course not,_" it immediately answered. "_I just think that you should spend some time . . . trying to remember. That's all . . ._"

Cloud tried to remove himself from the black void, but was unsuccessful. "It's not important. What happened then . . . none of it matters anymore."

"_Oh, my dear boy,_" the sexless voice said, "_I can assure you that it does indeed matter._" There was a brief pause. "_And besides . . . I think the others that are travelling with you would like to know. They seemed very disappointed with the ending . . ._"

"That's not my fault," he shouted, and then heard the echoes of his own words ringing throughout his head.

"_Perhaps not,_" the voice said softly. "_But I think that Tifa would really like to hear the proper ending . . . along with the other spots that you skipped over . . ._"

"What are you . . .?" Cloud sighed. "I didn't skip anything . . . I just . . . I just couldn't remember . . ."

"_You keep telling yourself that, boy,_" the genderless voice said, "_but that kind of attitude towards your past is going to come back to haunt you . . ._"

Cloud waited some time before replying. "If it's so important . . . if the scenes from my memories that I can't recall are so important . . . then why can't you just tell me about them? You seem to know what happened . . ."

"I'm sorry to say that I'm not allowed to speak of such things," the voice said. "It's hard enough speaking with you as it is . . ."

Cloud sighed. "So what do you want me to do? And why is this so important? I don't even know who or what you are?"

"_What I want,_" the voice replied, "_is for you to pull the veil off of your eyes and remember your own story . . . so that you can tell it without so many . . . inconsistencies . . ._"

"Inconsistencies!?" Cloud echoed. "What are you talking about?"

Just as smooth as ever the voice said, "_And it's important for you to remember so that you don't lose your mind . . . that seems obvious._"

"Lose my mind . . .?"

"_And as for me,_" it said, "_I'm just here to help . . ._" There was a slight pause, and then the voice continued, "_And by the way . . . I wouldn't speak about this with the others, not just yet. Things are going to be hard for all of you now and until you get the story right it wouldn't be wise to bring it up._"

Cloud tried to shake his head, he tried to rid his mind of the invading voice. "Whatever you say . . . just let me out. I want out!" He screamed and shook his head even harder. "Let me out!"

"_I will,_" the silky voice said. "_As long as you remember what I've said. After all, I'm only here to help . . ._"

"Let me out!"

2

Cloud woke with a start and sat up in his bed. Looking around the room he could see the faces of his team staring at him with worried expressions.

"You were having a nightmare . . ." Barret said.

Cloud tried to slow his breathing, and then moved his eyes to meet Tifa's. His head was throbbing.

"Yes, Cloud?" she asked, a distant look in her tired eyes.

Without responding he rolled over and pulled the covers over his aching head.

He swallowed hard and grabbed for his head, and then willed himself to sleep.

_What's happening to me?_ he thought, and then drifted off into a dreamless doze.

3

Everyone in the room stared in the direction of Cloud's bed for some time, not understanding what had just occurred. After some time however they each slowly fell back to sleep.

Tifa on the other hand was awake until just before dawn, when she reluctantly allowed her eyelids to drop, covering her fret-filled eyes.


	47. 4-1 Kalm Town

Part 4

Chasing the Man in the Black Cape

_Bugenhagen looked down at them. _"_When it's time for this Planet to die, you'll understand that you know absolutely nothing._"

_Cloud asked, _"_When the Planet dies?_"

"_It may be tomorrow, or a hundred years from now . . . but it's not long off._"

1. Kalm Town

1

_So the story has been told, and everyone knows what's at stake. Now we just need to find Sephiroth and end all of this. If anyone from the Shinra gets in our way we'll just have to take care of them as well._

Cloud took a deep breath, satisfied with his thoughts as well as his attitude considering the strangeness of the previous night's unanticipated events. He'd been known to have a short fuse in his younger days, getting in quarrels with random children for reasons he wouldn't even remember the next day, but at least now he was learning to get over it.

_And really,_ he thought, _what of it?_

The team had been staring at him because he'd probably been thrashing around. Did that show them that he was weak?

_Perhaps . . . but everyone's more or less on edge anyways because of our current situation. And Tifa . . ._

Cloud stopped that thought, unsure of where it had been going. Not too long ago he'd been walking into a bar and had once again been at a loss for words as he looked upon her familiar and beautiful face.

So much had happened since then, not least of all the addition of Aeris, who also was attractive in her own way, and the mysterious canyon creature, Red 13.

Cloud knew something had changed between Tifa and himself. He knew something was breaking between the two of them, something hidden just under the surface.

_So what is it?_ he asked himself.

He mentally shrugged off the question, knowing that whatever it was, it was less important than finding Sephiroth and saving the Planet. Even knowing this, he couldn't lie to himself and say that he truly couldn't feel that occasional pull in his chest when he was around Tifa. But he also knew that the pull could have something to do with their childhood or any other emotion tangle that they'd been involved with together.

_After all . . . don't I sometimes feel that pull when I'm around Aeris as well?_

To Cloud, this pull did somehow feel the same . . . and yet very different. And how could it not? Tifa was becoming more standoffish every day while Aeris seemed to be closing in on some unseen emotional distance between them.

_And she is pretty . . ._

Cloud vigorously shook his head, and seconds later realized that he was smiling to himself.

Amidst everything that was going on he was still feeling the everyday up's and down's of a normal life. And while he wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing, he knew that he would have to try harder to keep his focus on Sephiroth.

He glanced upwards and saw the bright, yellow sun already high in the mid-morning's cloudless sky.

_So much happening,_ he thought, lightly grabbing at his head. _And the majority of it seems to be happening in my mind._

He took another deep breath, sucking in the unsullied air of Kalm, and was glad that he'd been left alone, even if just for a few minutes while the rest of the team began to scatter around the town, preparing for their journey ahead, and to see if they could find anything about Sephiroth's last known whereabouts.

_Everyone needs some time to be alone . . . some time to think. And maybe that's all Tifa needs as well . . ._

2

Aeris found that she was spending less time looking for supplies than she was sneaking glances at Tifa's blank face as the two girls walked up and down the aisles of the General Store. And while there were many times that she wanted to reach out to Tifa, to comfort her if comfort was what was needed, Aeris held back.

The brown-eyed girl beside her had been fairly quiet after listening to Cloud's account of Nibelheim and the terrible days of their past together, so Aeris didn't try to force anything out of her, knowing that anyone who had endured some traumas would be a little shaken up.

"What we need," Aeris said, "is something to keep water in while we're walking. We can't depend on there always being a lake or pond around."

Having been behind the walls of Midgar so long Aeris could feel a slight tingle of excitement coursing through her body. She had always dreamed of getting out of the city and exploring the open country. When she was still very young her mother had told her that the farther away from Midgar that she was the easier it would be to speak with the Planet. She hadn't truly appreciated this information until years later, when the desire to communicate became almost overwhelming.

"Aeris . . ." Tifa said, a strained look on her face.

"Yes?" Aeris asked, noticing that Tifa wasn't even trying to hide the concerned look on her face.

"What did you think about Cloud's storytelling?"

Aeris shrugged, her eyes wide. "Well . . . I think it's amazing that both of you are alive. I mean . . ."

"Not his story," Tifa interrupted, her voice stern yet composed. "Not his story . . . his storytelling."

"Oh," Aeris said, caught off guard for a moment. "I don't know, Tifa. Why? Was there something wrong?"

Tifa twirled a strand of her long, dark hair between her thumb and index finger. "Well . . ." she began, and then waited for a customer to pass by, "there were a few instances while he was talking when he suddenly blanked out and couldn't remember what happened."

Aeris slowly nodded. "Yeah, I remember. But Tifa, it was five years ago . . . and after what he went through . . . after what both of you went through . . . I can imagine that it wasn't all that hard to forget the details of those horrible days." She paused. "I mean besides, do you remember everything that happened during that time? Every little detail?"

Tifa shook her head, a tiny glimmer of frustration in her eyes. "Well, no. But . . ." She trailed off. "It's just . . . I don't know. I'm just really confused now."

Aeris gave her a small smile. "We all are, honey. So while we're walking, and I imagine that we're going to have a lot of walking to do, think it over, and then come talk with me about it." She smiled widely. "Us girls have to stick together! Right?" She waited until she saw Tifa smile, although it looked pained. "Just know this . . . I will always be there for you, willing to talk about anything that you want to talk about."

Tifa nodded and continued to try and smile. "Thanks, Aeris."

Walking around the shop Aeris couldn't help but wonder why Tifa seemed so worried about Cloud's story. She was positive that there was more to what Tifa was telling her, but she figured that if Tifa wasn't telling her right now that it was for a good reason.

After a bit of assistance from one of the workers in the store they had found what they were looking for. In front of them was a shelf filled with various canteens. They picked out five, each with straps so that they could be slung around their shoulders or necks, and headed to the front of the store to purchase them.

Once again Aeris glanced over at Tifa, and was dismayed to find that same blank look on her friend's face.

3

"I believe there's a slight issue at hand that needs discussing," Red 13 said to Barret as they roamed the cobblestone streets.

"Yeah, what's up?" Barret asked.

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, being the unobservant person that you are . . ."

"Watch yourself."

". . . But I seem to be attracting a good deal of attention everywhere that we go."

Barret agreed. "I've noticed that too, but I really don't think that much can be done about that. Ha! You stick out like a sore thumb . . ." He paused and chuckled. "Well, at least a sore thumb that's really red . . . and has a tail."

"Forgive me if I restrain my laughter," Red 13 said, shaking his head.

"Hey!" Barret shouted, shrugging his massive shoulders. "What's the big deal? Not like I called you ugly or somethin' . . . although I suppose I could. Plus you're short, I guess I could call you short."

Red 13 grinned. "You really don't know when to quit, do you?"

"Nope. Guess that was one of those things I just never got around to learning." He grinned. "I consider it a positive."

"Yeah," the Mabnai added, "and the negative would be what . . . how to properly groom yourself?"

Barret smiled before releasing a hearty chuckle. "See? Now didn't that feel good? Just a little remark here and there ain't no crime."

"I suppose you're right, but can we get back to the issue of the attention I appear to be receiving all over Kalm." Even as he spoke a father and his son were staring intensely at him, their mouth's gaped open.

Barret rubbed his beard-covered chin. "Well, I don't know what you want me to do about it. I don't really see what the big deal is, as long as nothing happens to us."

"What would happen to us?"

"Damnit, I don't know! You're the one that brought this up!"

Red 13 shook his head. "I just thought, being the calculating leader that you are, that you might have a plan in case someone questioned you about me."

"First of all," Barret shot back, "don't be cute and give me that 'calculating leader' bullshit. Second of all, if anyone for some reason does question me about you . . ." He paused, and then continued, ". . . I'll just tell them that you're my dog."

"Your 'dog'?"

"You got any better ideas?"

Before he could answer a girl approached them. They recognized her as the girl who had greeted them at The Miner their first evening in town.

"Hey, I saw you the other night!" the girl said to Barret.

He smiled at her. "And I saw you. The meal was wonderful by the way."

She giggled. "Ya know . . . at first I was kind of frightened . . . of him," she said, pointing at Red 13, "but I guess he must be all right . . . and he _is_ kind of cute. But I've been wondering . . . what exactly is he?"

Barret had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. He looked down at Red 13 and saw that he was doing the same. When he looked back at the little girl he replied, "Well, um . . . he's my dog."

Red 13 snorted and then rolled his eyes before lowering his head.

"Your dog?" the girl questioned, a look of awe on her face. "I've never seen a dog that looked like this before! Can I pet him, or wait . . ." She held her hands to her mouth as if she'd made a monumental mistake. After a moment she asked, "Is it a him?"

This time Barret couldn't contain himself and laughed out loud. "Actually . . . I'm not sure. It's a rare breed . . . might be a girl for all I know!" Just out of sight from the girl Red 13 kicked Barret with one of his hind legs. Barret continued, "But of course you can pet him."

"Thank you," the girl said and buried her hands in the canyon creature's fur. Red 13 couldn't deny that the vigorous rubbing felt wonderful.

"Good boy!" Barret said, holding back a chuckle that was once again trying to escape his throat.

"Does he protect you?" the girl asked.

Barret nodded. "Sure he does! He's a very powerful fighter. I wouldn't choose anything else on the entire Planet to fight with over this guy." He looked down into Red 13's eyes, making sure that he had understood the sincerity in his statement.

"That's wonderful and _so_ adorable," the girl said, still stroking Red 13. "Sometimes I wish I had a dog to protect me like he protects you. Just the other night this really, really evil-looking man wearing a black cape walked past me." She paused and Barret could see a look of fright on her face. She continued, "He didn't do anything to me, but just looking into his eyes I felt afraid . . . I can't get those thin, green eyes out of my head . . ."

Barret and Red 13 quickly exchanged glances, knowing that it was time to find the others.

4

An old man, using the assistance of a cane, approached Cloud outside of the inn. Nodding his head the man smiled and said, "Wow, sonny, that is a beautiful sword!"

Cloud, having carried the sword with him for so long that he could barely feel its weight anymore, almost forgot that it was there. "Thanks," he said to the old man with a small smile.

The man smiled a nearly-toothless grin. "Must be my lucky day. That is the second pretty sword I've seen lately!"

Curious about what the man had said, Cloud asked, "You've seen another man carrying a sword through here today?"

The old man's frail and fragile hand tightened around the top of the cane as he started to walk with Cloud away from the inn and around the town. "Not today, but maybe last night. No, maybe a night or two ago . . . the mind ain't what it used to be. Anyways . . . a man in a black cloak walked east from here, towards the mines." Looking at Cloud's sword again he said, "His was a lot thinner but just as beautiful. If I'd have to say though, the man carrying it was somewhat scary looking . . ."

Cloud's eyes widened. "Did he say anything?"

"Not that I know of, sonny." The old man sat down on a bench in the middle of the lazy town. He signaled Cloud to come and sit with him.

Cloud knew that he needed to find the others, but he figured that if Aeris and Tifa weren't back yet that it was because they were still searching for the canteens.

When he sat down onto the bench the man said, "Everything nowadays is so simple, there's hardly any use for swords. I used to love watching the soldiers come through town, each with their own unique blades. Now it's all about guns." He shrugged. "But I suppose that's the sign of the times. Thanks to Shinra, Inc. developing Mako energy for us, everything is more convenient now, so I shouldn't really be complaining."

Another man, roughly Cloud's age, sat down on the bench between Cloud and the old man. Having heard what the old man had said he replied, "Yeah, but while it's more convenient, soon all of the natural resources are gonna be sucked dry."

Cloud wasn't sure if this man knew the older man or not but he couldn't deny that what the younger man had said was undeniably the truth. Looking from the old man's cane to his face, Cloud said, "I believe he's right."

The old man frowned. "Maybe so. But I'm an old man. And I've got my health, and enough to eat. All's well. I just can't fathom an easier life now that we've got Mako. Even if a lot of the local plants and animals have been dying off recently, which is what most of the anti-Shinra folk are complaining about, the Shinra will soon be able to fix the reactors so that they won't be so harmful to the Planet."

The younger man persisted, "But don't you see? Soon everything around us is going to die off. And I know that for a fact. I used to live under the famous floating city, Midgar. The slums are a barren wasteland." He glanced off into the distance where the very top of some of the Midgar buildings could be seen. He stood up and started to walk away. Before he was too far he turned around and said, "Shinra is leading the Planet around by the nose. Are you guys just gonna sit back and take it?"

Once the man was out of sight, Cloud laughed to himself.

_It's too bad Barret wasn't here to listen to him, he would've tried to recruit the man into AVALANCHE._

Cloud shook the old man's wrinkled, leathery hand and went to the town's exit to meet up with the team.

5

Once gathered they each took turns sharing the information, among other things, that they had found out while on their walk around Kalm.

Cloud, Barret, and Red 13 were happy to see that the girls had managed to find something for them to keep water in during their travels.

"But what about food?" Barret asked, although he had poised this question earlier as well.

"There's a lot of emptiness out there," Cloud said, gesturing towards the fields. "But it's not completely empty. We'll be able to stop at the trading towns and the squatter huts if we're really hurting that badly for food."

Barret opened his mouth, ready to argue, but instead shrugged and said, "Alright, alright . . . if you say so, white boy."

Before Cloud could mention that he had talked to someone who had seen Sephiroth, Tifa blurted, "Some of the people Aeris and I spoke with saw Sephiroth in town not too long ago. Of course, they didn't know that he was Sephiroth. Each gave the same description of a man with a black cape or cloak carrying a long sword."

Cloud nodded. "I heard that from a person as well."

They looked at Barret and Red 13. Barret said, "Same here. It seems this Sephiroth guy is the kind of character that gets noticed wherever he goes."

Red 13 added, "Also, while exploring the town's bar we noticed that all of the worker's that live in town haven't been going to work lately."

Barret jumped in and said, "Right. A lot of them coal miners work in a place not far from here called the Mythril Mines. They've been saying that lots of monsters have been appearing lately. Business went downhill so most of 'em jes drink all day now. I guess it's really been hurting the town."

"Someone that I talked to," Cloud explained, "also mentioned the mines. He said a 'man with a black cloak' was heading in that direction."

Aeris put her hands on Cloud's and Tifa's shoulders. "Well, I'd say we have a good idea where to start looking."

Tifa cracked her knuckles and smiled her first genuine smile of the day. "Here we come, Sephiroth."

Cloud nodded, and felt a soft pang in his heart as he looked upon her smiling face.


	48. 4-2 Dreams and Bargains

2. Dreams and Bargains

1

His vision was obstructed, although besides the varying shades of gray there really wasn't much to see anyways. He'd never liked looking at the scene around him with such a small, rectangular view, but there wasn't much choice in the matter.

Or was there? He did have some decision in this . . . a choice . . . a need . . .

He plodded on, following the others while also being followed by one more. His tiring legs were stiffening in the cold despite the oily, uncomfortable sweat that gradually beaded on his clothed skin. He mostly looked down, fearing to catch his foot on a stray rock, forcing him to sprain an ankle, or to tumble to the dreary prospect beneath.

It would have been nice to take a break, to sit down and catch his breath, but he knew that that wasn't going to happen. They'd tried that already. And really, this was too important, there was too much at stake . . . as far as he knew.

After all . . . what did he really know about this particular segment in his life? Mystery seemed to be marching after mystery, following blindly in a frazzled hope of recognition, of self-importance.

He brought his hands to his face and scratched at the itchy covering, and mentally stabbed himself for the weak decision he'd made only days earlier. Perhaps things wouldn't have been awkward. Perhaps things would've been okay. It at least would've spared him the lack of comfort, that adamant and maddening prickle.

He glanced forward as one of the figures in front of him called out, and only now did he realize that the gray beneath him had transformed to shaky planks of brown, thin strips that differed and yet were the same in their objective.

His heart began to race, and he turned his head from side to side, desperately trying to see why the others seemed so alert, so panicky and concerned.

But his vision was hindered, and before he could even twist his sweating neck in one potential direction he felt the skeletal path beneath his black-booted feet fall out from under him.

It was chaos.

It was . . .

He screamed, but even then he knew that screaming would make no difference, nothing could stop the inevitable from happening, nothing could forestall a pre-decided fate, a destiny.

The other voices – which had all been screaming as well – suddenly died off, but he barely registered the abrupt change of sensation.

He hit a large _something_ . . . and instead of pain there was the immediate relief of nothingness, the pure glory of complete and total numbness.

He opened his searching, bloodshot eyes, although perhaps not voluntarily, and saw that he was moving, bouncing, rolling, falling, plummeting, and hitting a flatter _something_ than before.

Blood ran down his forehead . . . blood ran up his chin . . . he was rolling, the gray-green beneath him slanting, trembling.

He was forced to close his eyes when the sight in front of him came to a halt and the excess crimson on his battered face began to pool in his swollen sockets – one can't see through two tiny pools of blood.

In the darkness, with his other senses fading . . . fading . . . fading . . . he tried to speak, to scream, to cry . . .

But he couldn't, and the enclosing, malevolent void clutched his unfeeling skull, twisting . . . twisting . . . stabbing . . . stabbing . . .

2

Johnny Firnock awoke from a dream he'd had far too often these past years. He quickly sat up, and while he caught his breath he carefully pulled off the leather jacket that he almost never took off. It wasn't made out of real leather – something almost everyone he'd met felt obliged to tell him – but it was warm and fit well, which was probably why he was covered in a thick film of sweat.

He shivered despite the sweat.

His neck hurt, his head throbbed.

He tried to shake away the remnants of the dream, but was hard-pressed to rid his present-day mind of that falling-without-falling sensation.

Looking around the small cell that he'd spent an unhealthy amount of time in he tried to remember which phase of the day he was in.

With no clock to read and with the guards' determined ignorance to his every word Johnny's days had merged into one long marathon of anxiety and boredom. To help get through some of this he did he best to keep track of the four phases that generally occurred every day.

_Hmm . . . let's see,_ he thought, trying to keep his spirits up. _I'm fairly hungry, but not starving, so I must be past Phase 1._

He glanced down at his arms, his stomach, and then touched his face.

_The pain isn't too intense . . . so if someone's come in to rough me up it hasn't been for a little while – so there goes Phase 2._

He strained his easing head, and then licked at his dry lips.

_And if they've dropped dinner in here for me I definitely don't remember . . ._

He smiled to himself. It was a small comfort, knowing the potential hour of the day and what was still to come, but it was a comfort nonetheless.

_So let's see . . . all that's left is dinner . . . and then . . ._

He sighed. What he had termed 'Phase 4' was his least favorite part of the day. He wasn't sure if he could take anymore of those Turk bastards coming and asking him the same questions over and over again.

'_Where are the rebels? Where is AVALANCHE? Why are you protecting them!?' On and on and on . . ._

He craned his neck as he heard approaching footsteps.

Even as his stomach gave a slight grumble, anxious to be filled, his face was already grimacing.

_What's it going to be tonight? Thin soup again? Old bread?_

He clenched his fist and shook the attitude away. He wasn't going to give in to these assholes, he wasn't going to show them any weakness.

There was a short knock on the door, followed by the rattling jingle of keys.

Johnny took a breath and called, "Come in, darling . . . I've kept the house squeaky-clean . . ."

3

"This is insane!" Reno Joolston shouted, bewilderment on his healing face. "He sent all three of them?"

Alrik Heideggar's eyes thinned as he stared at the red-haired Turk. "Don't you dare complain to me about any of that shit! No one cares! Especially not me! Maybe you haven't heard, but I've got enough things to worry about myself these days!"

Reno opened his mouth but then thought better of it. The large man in front of him didn't have quite the same reputation as the President, but he was certainly someone that you didn't want to upset if you didn't have to.

Heideggar continued, "I've been dealing with these complaints about the President for weeks now and I've just about had it!"

Shaking his head, Reno quickly said, "I'm sorry . . . I just don't understand a lot of this." He waited a moment, hoping that the large, green-suited man in front of him would lose some of the angry color in his face. "Heideggar . . . sir . . . this really is crazy . . ."

The bearded man nodded. "Of course it's crazy! Everyone knows that . . ."

"But then why . . .?"

Heideggar interjected, "Why! Why, you ask! Because he's the goddamn President! And because _most of us_ are afraid of him!"

"I understand that," Reno said. "But how can he possibly believe that the citizens of the Planet are actually sheltering Sephiroth? That the people are willingly harboring the most dangerous man on the Planet?"

Reno knew the answer, and even as Heideggar began to holler at him he found his mind concentrating hard on the issue.

_Rufus believes that because he hasn't been able to find Sephiroth yet that people are using their properties to hide him . . . how much crazier could he get! And now I don't even have any other Turks around to talk about this with because he sent away Tseng, Rude, and the new girl Elena!_

He'd found out about all of this from Reeve Tuesti, a man who a lot of the others didn't like, but Reno himself was undecided about how he felt towards the head of the Urban Development department.

He had then built up his courage and had finally decided to try and talk to the President's closest advisor about his concerns.

"Hello! Can you hear me!?" Heideggar bellowed.

Reno had in fact not heard him, but he nodded all the same. "Yes . . . I understand."

"So what are you saying? You want out? You turning into another pansy like that asshole Reeve?"

"No!" Reno shouted. "That's not what I want . . . I just . . . it's like I said. I don't understand why the President thinks the way he does."

Heideggar surprised him now with a small smile. "You and me both, Turk. But there's nothing that we can do about it. I've given up trying to give advice to the President."

"So we just have to sit back and do what he says?" Reno questioned.

The small smile on the large man's face had already disappeared. "Oh, quit your complaining! You're getting paid, aren't you? You've got a steady job." There was a short pause and then Heideggar continued, "The President may have some . . . unique views . . . but he's determined. And I like seeing that."

"He's determined," Reno said, "to forget everything except for Sephiroth. What about the AVALANCHE group? And is he really going to broadcast an announcement telling the citizens that these quote 'Sephiroth-raids' will be beginning in the near future?"

Heideggar stared at Reno for a moment, and then replied, "I may not agree with the President concerning those rebels . . . but as for the raids . . . if he feels they are necessary, then who am I to disagree?"

"What!?" Reno yelled, his mouth hanging open. "I can't believe that I'm hearing this!"

Anger again was crawling onto the large man's features. "You better believe it, Turk! I'm not getting myself killed just because I have a few different opinions than the President!"

"Opinions have nothing to do with it!" Reno shouted, and then was suddenly lifted off of his feet and thrown against the nearby wall.

"You shut your mouth!" Heideggar screamed. "That's it! I'm fed up with it and I don't want to hear anymore! I've got enough to worry about without you coming here and whining to me about all of this shit!"

Reno tried to keep his mouth shut as directed, but failed to do so. "Whining! How can you say that!? Aren't we on the same side?" He felt Heideggar tighten his grip but he continued, "I just want to do what's best for the company! I'm a Turk, goddamnit!"

Heideggar held him there a drawn-out moment longer, and then dropped him to his feet. "Fine . . . but if you want to do what's right for the company you have to do as the President says." He paused. "These are different times, Turk . . . Sephiroth is in the picture and the President feels that the Promised Land is in our sights."

"Different times," Reno repeated, slowly shaking his head. He remembered Tseng saying something similar.

_What's the matter with all of you?_ he thought. _Are all of you losing it? Don't you see what's going on?_

"Yes," Heideggar said, his voice barely present. "Different times . . ."

"So you're completely abandoning the search for AVALANCHE?" Reno asked, bracing himself for Heideggar's wrath.

Instead the green-suited man only huffed and nodded his head. "It's like I said . . . I'm not losing my life over a few different opinions . . ."

_Opinions . . ._ Reno thought, but this time kept his mouth shut.

After a moment the red-haired Turk asked, "So what about the prisoner then?"

"The prisoner?" Heideggar asked, and the confusion on his face was enough of an answer for Reno.

"Nevermind . . ." the Turk said, and then walked away from Heideggar and made his way to the 67th floor.

4

Johnny was confused. Instead of a Shinra guard with a tray full of old food he was staring at a red-haired Turk with a headband and a slightly swollen nose.

"How the hell did I miss Phase 3?" he asked, feeling slightly out of sorts.

Instead of answering the question the Turk quickly stepped inside of the cell and pointed a gun at Johnny's chest.

For a moment neither of them said anything, but then the Turk whispered, "You have two choices . . ." He took a tiny step forward, the gun in his hands completely still. "Die right now . . . or take me to where AVALANCHE is . . ."


	49. 4-3 Following

3. Following

1

Cloud and the others left Kalm and started on their daylong journey to the Mythril Mines. They were following Sephiroth's trail, and they would continue to follow it until one of two things happened: They found him, or they died trying.

The open plains of the Grasslands were beautiful, as if the team was staring across an ocean of jade, the wind turning long stalks of grass into wave patterns. However, the longer that they traveled the drearier the open plains looked. The dark blue ocean water to the north was now out of sight, so with the exception of the mountains that were looming to the south, everything was green and flat.

"It's amazing how fast all of this green starts to lose its appeal," Cloud said.

Aeris agreed. "All of this emptiness is wonderful, but yeah, at the same time it's so . . . I don't know, lonely."

They had each silently agreed to use this route towards their distant destination, not even considering the various roadways as an option. They all knew that their chances of evading the Shinra were a great deal higher if they kept to the fields.

Grabbing a handful of the tall grass, Cloud said, "I hated seeing the condition of the land in Midgar . . . in the slums. But it's just . . . well, I guess it's like you said . . . it's lonely."

Barret shook his head and vented a growl of words before he shouted, "Don't know what all y'all talkin' about! 'It's empty! It's empty'! Who the hell cares? Not one of you can honestly tell me that you'd rather be stuck back in Midgar breathing that poison that they call air and walkin' around all day on that damn hard-as-hell dirt."

Cloud shrugged, his fingers still dragging through the swaying green. "I highly doubt anyone here would rather be back in Midgar, Barret."

"But this emptiness," Tifa began, "forces you to think."

"And what is so wrong with that?" Barret questioned, the expression on his face proving that he was truly perplexed by what the others were saying.

"Maybe some of us don't want to be thinking about anything right now," Tifa said. "Everything that's happened to us in the past couple of days has put a lot of stress on our bodies and minds."

Cloud put his hand on her shoulder. "Tifa . . . if you're having a hard time coping with something, it might be easier to voice your troubles. We might be able to help you."

She shook her head. "I can't," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "Right now I just want to find Sephiroth." She paused, slowing her strides. "And I lied before, because even though I don't want to be thinking right now . . . I guess that I really need to . . . I need to figure some things out . . ."

Aeris gave her a knowing look and a small smile. "Well, honey, when you're ready I'm sure any one of us, or all of us, would be more than willing to talk with you about anything."

"Thanks, Aeris," she said, and then returned the same knowing look before lowering her head.

Cloud looked at Tifa, his childhood friend, waiting for her to look up at him. Instead she continued to stare at the green ground and walked on.

_Tifa, what is going on with you?_

2

Just before he was ready to voice his concern for food once again, Barret saw that Cloud was leading the team in the direction of a small circle of houses standing just beyond one of the folds of the mountain.

_Damn that white boy,_ Barret thought as Cloud turned around and winked at him, already knowing that he had been ready to ask again.

Beside him Red 13 asked, "Is it safe to enter a village while we're still so close to Midgar?"

Cloud stopped and turned around to face the team. "You're right. Only one of us needs to go."

Aeris said, "Have you been here before?"

Cloud shook his head. "Not really. The few people that I've known that have told me that they've stopped here called it Teg . . . it's not much as you can see, but a little village like this will have a good supply of walking food."

"Walking food?" Barret asked. "Jes what the hell is walking food?"

Cloud shrugged, a smug smile on his face. "I guess you'll have to wait and see . . ." He turned to the rest of the group and said, "You all head that way," he pointed south of the town, "towards the mountains. I'll meet up with you in a bit. It shouldn't take very long."

Barret stomped his foot, but the sound of foot-on-grass wasn't as effective as foot-on-floor.

_Cloud and his damn mood swings,_ he thought. _Happy, sad. Laughin', angry. So goddamn annoying. He's like . . . he's like . . . he's like a girl or something!_

Unable to help it, Barret quietly laughed to himself as he watched Cloud walk towards the trading village, Teg, while the rest of the group did as they were told and walked a short distance south.

Perhaps he was still a little bitter towards Cloud for taking over the leadership role of the team, but it didn't hurt to joke every once in a while – especially to himself. He continued to laugh to himself even after the realization came that Cloud was just getting to know him really well, and that he knew how to get under his thick, brown skin.

_Ah . . . gotta let it go . . ._

"You joining us today," Red 13 suddenly called out, "or are you going to stand there giggling to yourself for the rest of the evening?"

The laughter ended as quickly as it started.

"Yeah, yeah," Barret said, and then followed the group.

_Damn that white boy . . . nothin' but trouble._

3

After a short break under the shadow of the mountain to the south, the team continued on. Cloud had come back from Teg and had shown them half a dozen bags of jerked meat and dried fish, proclaiming them to be 'walking food'.

To Aeris' surprise, Barret held his tongue, only sending a half-serious grin in Cloud's direction as the ex-SOLDIER divided up the rations between the four travelling packs.

They had already gone a fair distance, but there was still a lot of land to be traveled. The sun would be going down in a couple of hours, which didn't give them much time to get to the mines before dark.

_I don't think we want to be arriving at the mines while it's dark anyways,_ Aeris thought.

As they trekked on Cloud, Barret, and Red 13 slowly distanced themselves ahead of the girls, which was exactly what Aeris was hoping would happen.

"Tifa?" she asked.

Without so much as glancing up from the lively ground, Tifa replied, "Yeah?"

"I know we talked about this a bit back in Kalm, and that you said that you needed time to think when Cloud asked you what was wrong earlier . . . but I was wondering if you would like to talk to just me about it . . . like really talk . . . now that we're completely alone."

Aeris saw Tifa look up from the grass, for the first time realizing that Cloud, Barret, and Red 13 weren't beside her anymore. "Aeris . . . I'm worried about Cloud."

"Why? Because of his story?"

Tifa nodded, almost looking ashamed. "Yes . . . I mean, I just keep thinking about it."

"And?"

"Well . . . it's just . . . there's one more thing that I've been thinking about . . ." She paused. "What happened to John?"

"John?" Aeris asked.

"Yes," Tifa said. "John. Remember? There was Tego and Randall, and then the guard who wouldn't take off his mask, John."

Aeris did remember, but shrugged all the same. "Tifa, I'm guessing that Cloud skipped over that part of the story because of how they treated the situation when it happened. He's probably ashamed . . ."

"Ashamed . . . or did he forget?"

"Tifa," Aeris began, "we talked about this . . . it was a long time ago. You said it yourself, memories can be a hard thing to retain during a traumatic time like that."

"Fine then," Tifa said as she looked ahead in Cloud's direction. "But, here's the thing . . . there's more . . ."

"Oh," Aeris said, slightly off balance. "Then what it is?"

"Well . . . it's also me."

Aeris wasn't sure what to say. "I don't understand . . . it's also you?"

"Yes," Tifa sighed, exhaling air that was getting colder as the darkness crept closer. "It's also me. I feel like . . . like something's wrong with me."

"Tifa, I don't . . ."

Tifa raised her hand, stopping Aeris from saying anything else. "I feel like . . . I feel like I'm missing a lot of my memories . . ." She stared into Aeris' eyes, trying to find the right words to convey how she felt. "Lately I feel like . . ." She stopped again, unable to speak, unsure of what to say.

Aeris stared back at her. "Tifa . . . I'm sorry . . . I thought . . . I don't quite . . ."

Tifa let out a fake laugh. "Don't worry, Aeris. I know how it must sound . . . it sounds crazy even in my own ears. But Aeris, it's true . . . I feel like a lot of the things that I should know . . . that I should remember, are missing." She paused for a second and then began walking again. "The idea of me not remembering a few things sounded crazy and I was trying to figure it all out in my head, but then I realized something."

"What?"

"Since we've met, have I ever mentioned how I ended up in Midgar after the incident in Nibelheim five years ago?"

"No . . ."

"And in Cloud's story, did we find out what happened to me after Sephiroth cut me in the Mako reactor?"

"No," Aeris said, and was surprised that she hasn't noticed this herself. "What _did_ happen?"

Tifa shook her head and ran her fingers through her long, dark hair. "That's the thing . . . I don't remember."

"But how . . .?"

"I just don't remember anything after Sephiroth cut me. Well . . . to tell you the truth, I don't really even remember that. I can remember seeing my father . . . and I can remember picking up that bloody sword . . . but after that it's all blank and suddenly I'm in a hospital in Midgar."

There was silence for a long minute before Aeris said, "Tifa, I really don't know what to say. I wish I could help."

"It's okay," Tifa said, trying to smile. "That's not even all of it."

"There's more?"

"Yes . . ."

Aeris was upset at herself for not being able to help Tifa and at this point didn't know if she wanted to question her anymore. Maybe it _would_ be best if Tifa took some time to think it over.

But then she looked at Tifa and saw the confusion on her face and knew that she really did need help, even if she couldn't supply the much-needed answers.

Aeris asked, "What else is going on, Tifa?"

Tifa looked up into the rapidly darkening sky, the sun sinking behind them to the west. "We've heard a lot about Cloud's past . . . I mean, I've known him since we were little. In a small town like Nibelheim you know almost everyone. So I can recall those days. And by listening to Cloud's story in Kalm we know what happened to him after he left _seven_ years ago – the whole leaving for Midgar and everything else . . ."

"Go on," Aeris said.

"But what about after the incident in Nibelheim _five _years ago?"

"I don't know . . . he's never mentioned it?"

"No," Tifa said, "he hasn't. Until about three weeks ago I hadn't seen Cloud since Nibelheim . . ." Tears swiftly rushed down her cheeks and off of her chin.

"It's okay," Aeris said. "Don't force it."

Tifa wiped her eyes. "I mean . . . I don't see him for years and suddenly I find him at the Sector 7 train station and he starts telling me that he's a mercenary now - which I guess is how he eventually got involved with AVALANCHE and the bombing of the Number 1 reactor. But I mean, after all of that time you would think that he would've said something about the past, about what happened."

Aeris nodded. "Yeah, you would think that. But maybe it's just hard for him to talk about . . ."

"That's what I figured at first," Tifa exclaimed. "So I waited and waited for him to come and talk to me about it. But he didn't. He never brought it up. I know that I couldn't have expected it at the train station where we were reunited because he really didn't seem himself just then, but at the bar after they all got back from the first mission Cloud seemed genuinely happy. I was so sure he would come and talk to me about it then. I offered him a drink, I asked him how he felt. There was no reason why he couldn't just come right out and talk to me."

"Well, why didn't you just ask him about it?"

Tifa shrugged. "I don't know . . . something just didn't feel right - which is exactly how everything feels right now. Talking with Cloud and listening to his story of Nibelheim . . . well, I don't know. I just know that something doesn't feel right."

4

After a long trip through the rest of the evening, darkness crept over the team with haste. Not wanting to sleep in the vulnerable open fields of the Grasslands, Cloud persisted that they continue on until they found a more appropriate form of shelter.

As they lingered on through the dew-covered fields Cloud and Barret reminisced about the events so far. Red 13 remained silent as usual, but there was a touch of sadness that was also occupying his eyes at the moment.

The girls were still behind them but every so often Cloud or Barret turned around to check on them. Both girls had started to yawn more frequently and were hanging back more often.

"Looks like they're done talkin' for the night," Barret said.

Cloud agreed. "Yeah, they were definitely chatting away about something earlier, but it looks like the long walk is taking its toll on them."

The air was getting cooler, but for the moment it felt nice. Although there was still emptiness all around them the sea of green was somehow soothing in the darkness, its constant sway hypnotic.

Cloud heard Barret chuckling beside him. He faced the gunarmed-man and asked, "Something funny?"

Barret patted his back. "Not really. Just thinkin' that you kind of remind me of my ol' friend, Dyne."

"Oh yeah?" Cloud asked. "How so?"

"I dunno . . . just your attitude or somethin'. Every time that I think I got you figured out I realize that I'm completely wrong." He paused. "Dyne was the same way."

Cloud smiled. "Hmm, I'd like to meet this guy."

"Don't think you'll be able to," Barret said.

"Why . . .?"

"Cuz he's . . . he's gone . . ." Barret paused for a moment, his large strides slowing. "Dyne Ridgeback . . . was Marlene's real father."

"Back in Corel, right? The coal-mining town?"

Barret nodded. "Yeah . . . back in Corel."

"Speaking of mining," Cloud said, "why would the people of Kalm travel all this way to work? Wouldn't it have been easier to build an entrance from the other side of the mountain, or at least set up a closer establishment?"

Barret looked over at the black mountain to the south and replied, "Actually, they did have an entrance on that side of the mountain. But there was some kind of cave-in or something. I don't know. The people in Corel traded with the Kalm miners so we only got little pieces of the story from the travelers. I guess by the time of the cave-in the town of Kalm had already been built and they didn't want to bother with settling on this side of the mountain."

Cloud asked, "But . . . why not just build another entrance? Why only use this one?"

Barret shrugged. "To that I don't know. All I know is that mining is tough work. So whatever reason they had for not building another entrance on their side of the mountain must have been a good one."

Cloud yawned. "I don't know . . . seems like a lot of work. I'm getting tired just walking over here once. I couldn't imagine traveling the fields once or twice a week."

Barret said, "Like I said, it's tough work. And besides . . . the miners aren't on the run from the Shinra, so they'd probably be using the roads for most of the trek." He covered his mouth with his hand and yawned.

"Good point."

Looking back they saw that the girls were barely keeping up with them.

To their unexpected relief they soon saw lights up ahead, maybe a mile or so to the east. Cloud wasn't sure what to make of it at first because he couldn't remember ever hearing about any other settlements between Kalm, Teg, and the mines. And even though the light was very dim and small out in the middle of the remote land, it didn't appear that it was coming from another squatter town.

Cloud tried to weigh their options and in no time at all knew that this was probably going to be their best option, not least of all because he understood how badly the girls needed to rest. And the more he thought about it, he needed a good night's sleep as well, and he was sure Barret and Red 13 needed the same.

5

As they approached the place that was giving off the faint light the team realized that they were nearing a farm.

_Not just any farm, _Cloud thought. _A Chocobo Farm._

This became obvious because as they got closer and closer to the farm they could hear the loud 'Warrk' from the nearby chocobos.

Cloud, Barret, and Red 13 hung back and waited for the girls to catch up with them.

While they were waiting Cloud looked across the yard and saw a no-longer-white pickup truck sitting on a small piece of cleared land.

He wasn't sure why, but there was something about the truck that stood out to him. He shrugged off the thought as Tifa and Aeris walked up beside him.

Tifa, despite her sleepiness and confusion, laughed at the sight of the chocobos, remembering that the last time she had seen one she had been dressed in silk clothes and in a carriage on her way to Don Corneo's mansion. She said aloud, "Maybe the owners will let us get some sleep here. We can't be too far from the mines now."

Aeris giggled as she galloped towards the fence that kept the chocobos enclosed. "Aww! They are _so_ cute! Look at their little beaks."

A very affectionate and adorable bird, these ostrich-looking yellow animals were raised for pulling or carrying. When treated properly and fed the right greens, the large, vocal birds could really move. At the Gold Saucer, an amusement park across the ocean, chocobo races were held for the best and fastest birds on the Planet.

The sight of all the new and strange people delighted the chocobos. They gathered around the fence, poking their golden heads through in an attempt to be rubbed.

When very excited, some chocobos had even been known to dance. The dance, although rare, was widely known as the Chocobo Waltz, and had been seen only a handful of times by humans. But right now, Cloud and the others were witnessing it.

Fluttering their marigold feathers and bobbing their heads, the giant birds danced around. Swinging their long necks from side to side they became overjoyed with excitement, each letting out an ear-piercing 'Warrk'.

With all of the noise and excitement, Cloud and the others didn't see an old man in a bathrobe come up behind them.

"Well I'll be damned!" the man said, startling them. "What in the hell are you folks doin' out here in the middle of nowhere so late?" Cloud gulped, suddenly afraid that their idea of staying overnight on the farm was out of the question. But then the old man smiled. "Heh heh. I see that you fella's like my chocobos. And it appears that they like you as well. The damn Chocobo Waltz! I really can't believe it! I say, I say I've only seen it twice myself, and I've been working with chocobos for most of my life." He paused and smiled. "The name's Choco Bill." He nodded his head.

Going around one at a time the team nodded as well and announced their names.

"Cloud."

"Tifa."

"Barret."

"Aeris."

"Um . . . Red 13."

The farmer looked at the canyon creature for a prolonged moment, but if he found it strange that the Mabnai had talked he didn't voice his bafflement. With a sincere smile on his face Choco Bill said, "Well, I say I'm sure pleased to meet y'all." The farmer paused. "But may I ask a simple question? You folks in some sorta trouble or somethin', being out here in the middle of the Grasslands at this time of night?"

Cloud stepped forward and shook the man's hand. "No, sir. We're on our way to the Mythril Mines. We set out from Kalm this morning . . . and didn't realize that it was such a far distance."

The man chuckled. "Ha ha! Oh yes, quite the distance from Kalm! Or from Midgar for that matter. In fact, it's quite a distance from wherever yer comin' from!" He looked back at the tiny house next to the huge barn. "Hmm . . . I dunno if I have enough room for y'all in the house, the guest room is already occupied. But if ya wanna bunk up in the barn it would be fine by me."

Everyone sighed in relief. "Thank you so much, sir," Aeris said as she walked towards the man.

"That's not a problem at all, miss. Now why don't all y'all get some shut eye before ya fall asleep standing on yer feet." They all quietly agreed and in a zombie-like state they each walked to the barn in search of a makeshift bed. Before Cloud could walk away, Choco Bill said, "It was Cloud, right?"

Rubbing his eyes, the ex-SOLDIER answered, "Yep."

"Y'all plan on crossing the marshes?"

Cloud raised his arms, unable to answer. "I dunno. Do we have to cross the marshes to get to the mines?"

"Yesiree!" The man started walking with Cloud towards the barn. "Now lemme tell you, it's much safer to cross the marshes with a chocobo. That way you can zip through the marshes and avoid getting attacked by the Zolom."

"The Zolom?" Cloud asked, mid-yawn.

Choco Bill looked shocked. "Wow! I'm sure glad y'all stopped over here. You would've been killed trying to get to the mines without a chocobo. Ya see the Zolom is a serpent-like creature over thirty feet tall! In other words it's a big frickin' snake! It picks up on footsteps that enter the marshes . . . and then, BAM! It attacks!"

Cloud gulped, trying to envision a thirty foot snake but also feeling too tired to care at this point. He tried to place sincerity in his yawning voice. "Wow. Now I'm glad we all stopped here as well."

"Heh heh, I say, I say I told you so! Yer awfully lucky. Ya see the miners come from Kalm for weeks at a time to work in the mines and they always need a way to get past the Zolom. That's why I set up a farm out here in the Grasslands with my grandchildren. Lately though I've heard that the number of monsters in the fields has increased. The miners don't come 'round here much these days. I've lost a lot of business."

Cloud patted his back. "Well, don't worry. All five of us need to get to the mines tomorrow morning. So we'll be sure to pay you if you'll let us use some of your chocobos."

"Yeah . . . that's good, that's good." The farmer smiled and then tilted his head to the side. He asked, "Say sonny . . . do I know you from somewhere? I say, I say you look so damn familiar."

Cloud stared at the farmer's weathered face and shrugged. "Not that I know of. Have you always been out here in the Grasslands?"

Choco Bill chuckled. "Sonny . . . I've been everywhere." There was a twinkle in his eyes. He pointed over to the pickup truck that Cloud had seen before. "Back when she was a fair share steadier I was a traveling man . . . on this continent as well as our sister to the west."

"Then maybe we have ran into each other in the past," Cloud said. "I'm originally from Nibelheim." He nodded, and then yawned again. "Well . . . I think I'd better be getting some sleep." He smiled. "Goodnight sir . . . and thanks again."

Just before Cloud walked into the barn, Choco Bill said, "Oh, and by the way . . . I saw another person walking solo towards the marshes just before dawn. I guess one of my guests some him too. I was gonna try and run out to warn him but something about him gave me the chills. He didn't have a chocobo though. . . I hope the Zolom didn't get him. I'd feel awful." He paused and then said, "The man had a black cape on."

Cloud nodded at Choco Bill, and then walked into the barn. Out loud he whispered, "Sephiroth . . ."

6

Although it was rather reluctantly, the team set out early from the Chocobo Farm after a small breakfast, while the sun was still rising in the cloud-swollen sky. Their makeshift beds had not been comfortable, but they had done the job that was needed of them.

They'd each gotten a laugh from the fact that one of the guests staying in Choco Bill's house, Red 13 described her as a young girl in pink, had spotted the canyon creature coming out of the barn before the rest of the team and had screamed and run away.

"She obviously didn't think you were no dog," Barret had said when he had finished laughing.

The two pairs of men and women rode quickly towards the marshes on top of one of the four chocobos that they had rented from Choco Bill. Red 13 had refused to ride one of the large birds, saying that he'd take his chances with the oversized snake if it came to that.

The lazy farmer had sent them off with only two words: "See ya!"

Not 'Good luck', or 'Be careful', or even 'Have a nice day'.

Just "See ya".

While the giant yellow birds were extremely quick, the team had a bit of trouble trying to steer and control them having never ridden them before. Every time that the chocobos were pulled in a direction that they seemed reluctant to follow they let out a melancholic, "Warrk . . ."

In the end the chocobos always gave in to their rider and by the time that the sun was high in the now-cloudless sky each of them were mediocre riders.

Soon enough they were stopped on the edge of the Grasslands looking grimly at the cattailed-marshes ahead of them. Like a giant bog there were patchy chunks of land that randomly skewed up from the swampy water. Late morning steam rose gently up from the shallow pool, diminishing as it ascended towards the sky above. And from where they were standing they each could see - in their imagination - a thirty foot shadow slithering under the murky water.

Swallowing any fear that was caught in their throats the team charged quickly through the marshes to their destination on the other side. Red 13 winced as he ran into the murky water, following the chocobos lead.

Chilled by the cool morning air, gripping the reins on the chocobos, and dashing from side to side to avoid a sneak attack from the serpent, the team raced across the gray pool, positive that at any second the snake was going to explode out of the shallow, misty water.

A small area of the Grasslands existed on the other side of the marshes. Without being attacked the team had somehow made it there safely.

Barret shrugged, his eyes thinned. "You think that Bill guy made up that story about this Zolom thing?"

Cloud shook his head. "He didn't seem like the kind of person that would lie about something like that."

"Well, ya never know."

Nodding, Cloud said, "Yeah, you never know. But I'm sure that he would never have had any business without at least some of the miners seeing the snake during their previous trips to this side of the mountain."

Barret shrugged again. "I guess it don't really matter at this point. But if that thing really is out there I feel bad just lettin' these guys run off on their own." He rubbed the furry chin of the chocobo he had taken over the marsh.

"Choco Bill said that they would be fine," Aeris said. "I'm sure they've done this plenty of times before with the miners."

Jumping off of their chocobos they each caught their breaths while they watched the giant birds scurry back towards the farm, even faster without the weight of the riders slowing them down.

As Cloud watched the chocobos scamper across the marsh he heard Aeris scream behind him. He, along with the others, turned around to see her pointing at a hideous and bloodcurdling display of carnage.

7

Only forty or so feet in front of them, impaled on a dead and sharply-pointed tree, was the Zolom.

"I take back what I said about the farmer," Barret choked out behind clenched teeth.

The team looked ahead in horror and fear as the massive serpent lifelessly hung from the splintered wood. Its scales that had been a flaking jet black before were now a morbid pale blue in the area around the gaping wound. Its milky eyes were stuck in a state of fear and agony.

Cloud stepped forward. "Did Sephiroth . . . do this . . .?" Blood continually dripped from the enormous carcass, joining the crimson pool of liquid under the fractured tree.

"Amazing . . ." Tifa blurted out.

Cloud stepped beside her. "Looking at this . . . it proves that his strength is just how I had remembered it."

Tifa turned and looked at Cloud, but said nothing.

Aeris was almost shaking with fear. "Our enemy is someone that can do this?" She gazed up at the Zolom, wondering how much of a fight it had put up, if it had even had the chance to fight back at all.

The mountain's shadow now loomed over them, numbing their already chilly bones. The sun was shining strong, undeterred by the random clouds that floated by, but it could not seem to finds its way to the team at the moment, and certainly wasn't going to be able to find them once they entered the mines.

Cloud pointed at an opening near the base. "Must be the entrance to the mines."

They each took one last look at the skewered snake and made their way into the mines.

_Well, if they didn't believe me before when I told them of Sephiroth's strength, they sure do now. They know exactly what they're getting into now._

8

The mines, although eerily dark and silent, proved to be a fairly magical sight to look upon as they passed from one carved out room to the next. The black walls shined with dazzling luminescence as they passed through.

The lighting was minimal, and with the exception of Barret they didn't exactly know what they were looking at as they passed, but each of them could understand how much effort went into carving out the tunnels that they were walking through.

The shapeless black ceiling rose and fell every so often, forcing the team to be cautious as they rounded the many narrow, winding turns.

Yet, as awe-inspiring as it was, Cloud once again found that too much of the same thing forced his mind to wander.

_And from the look on Tifa's face, it's causing her mind to wander as well._

Silence encompassed the travelling team, and they wound their way through a bluish-black section of the mines, the walls jagged, the ceiling a paradox of angles.

Every so often they'd encounter a tool or two lying haphazardly on the stone ground, as if the miner who wielded them had stopped what he was doing at a dire time and had made a run for the exit.

Soon they were climbing shadowy steps, and then descending a curving tunnel, the ceiling thickening and thinning every other minute.

The seemingly endless mines had now brought an issue to Cloud's already-racing mind.

"Hey," he called to the others walking around him. "Have any of you seen any sign of Sephiroth?"

There was a scattering of answers, all amounting to the same general consensus.

"No."

"I haven't either," Cloud said.

"I don't think that we'd be able to tell anyways," Red 13 said, his voice glum.

Cloud understood his lack of enthusiasm. For whatever reason he hadn't thought too much about chasing the black-caped man – just that they were going to follow him no matter what.

Now as they travelled the lightless halls of the mines it seemed somewhat foolish to be blindly following Sephiroth's trail with nothing except for the word of other citizens.

_But Choco Bill . . . he wouldn't lie about such a thing . . ._

But then another thought came to the forefront of his mind, and it unsettled him.

_If Sephiroth left from Midgar . . . why would he travel such a roundabout way to get to where the other side of the mines are? Why wouldn't he have just gone south from Midgar?_

He shook the question out of his head, blaming the long, lightless tunnels for his withering attitude.

They turned a corner and then took time to rest on a man-made bench that had been carved right out of the rock that existed all around them. Drinking from their canteens they each could see a tiny beam of daylight pouring in from one of caves that was just up ahead. Taking their last sips they re-slung their thermoses around their shoulders and then headed towards the spotty light.

9

As they were walking, Aeris whispered, "How are you doing?" to Tifa.

Tifa shrugged and whispered back, "I'm okay . . . I mean, I guess I kind of have to be." She gave Aeris a weak smile.

Upon entering the next room, which was brighter than all of the previous caves, the team ran into someone that they had not planned on seeing in the mines.

Rude, the bald-headed Turk who they'd last seen in the Shinra Building, stood in the middle of the walkway with his arms crossed. Cloud thought about hiding but Rude spotted the team right away. "Hey! Just a second!"

Tifa asked, "Who are you?"

Looking at Cloud, Rude questioned, "Don't you know who I am?"

Cloud remembered. This was one of the Turks who had caught the team back in Hojo's laboratory. "From the Turks, right?"

Emotionlessly he stared back at Cloud. "Well if you know, this won't take long." He paused. Looking around the room and then back at Tifa, he said, "It's difficult to explain what the Turks do . . ."

Cloud raised his brow but before he could say it, Aeris replied, "Kidnapping, right?" She gave Cloud a quick wink.

Rude sneered and glared at her. "To put it negatively . . . you could say that. But . . . that's not all there is to it anymore." He paused again, physically uncomfortable, searching hard for the right words to say. He looked at the floor and then back at the team. "Um . . ."

Cloud and Barret exchanged glances, wondering where this situation was going to lead them.

"Sir!" a voice said from above them. Standing on a ledge was another Turk, one they hadn't seen before. "It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!"

Rude looked up at her. "Then Elena, explain."

In the typical Turk attire, besides her red fingernails and blonde hair, Elena looked appropriate for the status of a Turk. She was in shape and because she had made it to the level of a Turk she was probably a good fighter as well. "I'm the newest member of the Turks. Name's Elena. Thanks to what you did to Reno on the pillar we're short on people. Although, because of that, I got promoted to the Turks . . ."

Barret shook his head and looked up at her. "I'm waitin' for my 'thank you'." He grinned when he saw Cloud and the others smiling.

Elena blinked her eyes quickly. "No . . . in any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed, and to try and stop you every step of the way." She turned around. "Wait a minute, it's the other way around. You're the ones that are getting in our way. All of you are non-targets now . . ."

From the level that Rude and the team were standing on Tseng, leader of the Turks, slowly entered. ". . . Elena, how many times do I have to tell you? You talk too much."

"Mr. Stehr!"

He shook his head apathetically at her. "There's no need to tell them about our orders . . . or their current . . . non-importance . . ."

The new Turk lowered her head in shame. "Sorry, Tseng."

In a lighter tone he said, "I thought I gave you other orders. Now go! Don't forget to file your report."

"Oh! Right!" She clicked her black shoes on the ground. "Very well. Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbor!"

Tseng closed his eyes. Calm but agitated he responded, "Elena, you don't seem to understand. You need to keep that mouth of yours SHUT!" As a swift coloring of red began to appear in Elena's face she started to apologize again. Tseng interrupted and said, "Now go! Don't let Sephiroth get away."

"Yes sir!" both Rude and Elena yelled before leaving the area.

Rude ran and climbed up a rope to gain access to the ledge Elena was on. When he arrived at the top he faced down and said to the team, "Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his 'affection' for you all . . ." Slowly he walked out of sight.

Tseng stepped forward. "Well then . . ." He looked at Aeris until she met his gaze. "Aeris. Long time no see. Looks like you got away from the Shinra for a while, now that Sephiroth has reappeared."

She questioned, "So what are you saying, that I should be grateful to Sephiroth?"

"No . . ." He started walking away. "Well, I won't be seeing too much of you, we've been assigned to deal only with Sephiroth at the moment, so take care."

"Strange, hearing something like that from you," she shot back, looking at him straight into his thin eyes.

Gloomily he replied, "Well then, stay out of Shinra's way . . . in case us Turks get bored and are in need of some extra-curricular activities . . ." With these final words he exited the mines. Outside of the tunnel they heard a helicopter take off.

"What a weird sense of duty!" Barret said over the sound of the chopper.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "When they saw us I figured that they were going to attack . . ."

Tifa asked, "So what's all this 'You are non-targets' stuff? Shinra is giving up on us?"

Red 13 said, "It appears so . . ."

Cloud shrugged. "I'm not sure what it means . . . but I still don't think that we'll be making close friends with any of the Shinra . . ."

"Damn right 'bout that!" Barret shouted.

Cloud nodded and then looked over his team before he started forward in the same direction Tseng had gone.

They had all heard what the new Turk, Elena, had said, and they now had a new destination.

_Sephiroth is heading to Junon and we'll be right behind him every step of the way._

The team exited the mines.


	50. 4-4 Two Ideas of Shame

4. Two Ideas of Shame

1

"Do not talk back to your father!"

"Keep your mouth shut!"

"Silence!"

"It's none of your concern!"

"You're a miserable daughter . . . you bring downcast eyes on the name 'Kisaragi'!"

These were all things that Yuffie had heard time and time again during the frequent chats she had with the warrior lord of Wutai, her father, Godo.

_Warrior lord,_ she thought. _Isn't that the worst joke I've ever heard . . ._

He'd try disciplining her at first – this most recent event had come from the knowledge that she'd tried to barter away a family heirloom for a set of materia – but Godo's disciplinary attitude would always turn to rage.

_And why is that?_ Yuffie asked herself.

The answer, of course, was that she wasn't turning out to be the daughter that Godo had imagined that she'd become.

She didn't enjoy the seemingly meaningless religion that only her and her countrymen practiced – even now she could see the five gods performing their daily rituals on the Da-Chao Mountain and it sent her emotions into a swirl of frenzy.

She didn't enjoy the seemingly meaningless politics that her father was trying to thrust onto her every second of her life – what was the purpose of a government as weak as Wutai's was anyways? The name Kisaragi meant little these days besides some far-reaching idea of status.

She didn't enjoy a lot of the things that Wutai called its own, that made Wutai what it was.

_And why is that?_ she again asked herself.

The answer, of course, was that she was now old enough to understand how the rest of the Planet viewed her homeland.

She was now old enough to understand that the once-strong land of Wutai and the once-strong name of Kisaragi now only stood for a bleary symbol of pacifism and weakness.

2

"Gods!" she shouted, cursing the sky.

The worst part of the knowledge that she'd been slowing soaking in over the past couple of years was that even though it was irrefutable, her father, Godo, denied every accusation that she threw at him.

And instead of defending his increasingly-intense rebuffs, he would only try and silence Yuffie, his strategically-shouted words intended to make his only daughter feel awful about what she'd said.

But Yuffie did not feel guilty – Yuffie saw right through the mask of refutation that her once-powerful father wore.

_And I imagine that he's been wearing it every day of his life since the war ended . . . I was just too young and naïve before to notice._

For the first time in a few minutes she realized that she couldn't hear Godo's hoarse, shouting voice anymore. Turning around she saw that his pagoda was almost out of sight, its red-painted roof dwindling with every step that she took.

Turning back around in the direction that her feet were taking her she noticed that the hustle and bustle of the city was at a minimum. She accounted the absence of people for the time of day, knowing that one of the rituals was being performed for the next few minutes.

The knowledge that her father and some of the other high-status citizens of Wutai shamed her for not caring about such trivial activities almost pushed aside the other topic she was currently brooding about.

_But nothing will ever make me angrier than the downfall of my land,_ she thought, and then clenched her small fists.

She remembered loving Wutai and the sense of pride and unity that the entire city contained. She remembered the fear and ideals presented with Wutai's name and reputation.

And she still did love Wutai – but now it was a love of the memory of her city that sat on the westernmost edge of the map.

Wutai had lost the war, and she often wondered how things would've been if it had won. Whatever it would've become it would not have been as embarrassingly appalling as the resort town that it was now.

_And they call _me _shameful!_

Those in charge – her father, Godo the warrior lord, included - had taken the heart of Wutai, the one element that had survived the war, and had stuck a knife in it.

_And what do I get for my efforts to pull the knife out?_ she asked herself. _Punishment . . . anger . . . humiliation . . ._

She stopped her frustrated walk and screamed towards the Da-Chao, but the five gods didn't notice, they only continued to perform the daily rituals.

"Quit your whining, child."

Yuffie spun on her heels and saw three figures walking down the dirt path behind her.

She recognized the three men right away.

"Gorky, Chekhov, and Staniv," she said, keeping her voice chipper. "A pleasure as always . . ."

Chekhov grinned. "Your father wants you to come back to the pagoda, Yuffie."

"Yeah," Gorky said. "He says that it's time for you to learn some manners."

"You've got this whole section of the city in an uproar from your childish antics," the tall man named Staniv said.

"My antics, huh?" Yuffie said, not impressed. "Well, you're all just gonna have to tell my sourpuss father that I've got enough manners to survive in the shithole Wutai has become."

"How dare you!" Chekhov bellowed, taking a shaky step forward. "You are nothing but a dishonorable brat!"

Yuffie took a step forward. "What honor is needed in begging tourists for gil! What honor is needed in ignoring the state of our land, to just watch it wither away!?"

"Child . . ." Gorky screamed, but Yuffie ignored him.

"What honor is needed in taking the arm of some rich citizen and leading them to the Turtle's Paradise for a stiff drink? A place that used to house our war shrine?"

"You know nothing of honor!" Staniv shouted. "You were too young to understand during the war . . . and you're still too young to understand now."

Yuffie shook her head. "Oh, really? Is that true?" She paused, and then said, "Well, here's something that I hope you all understand." She raised her fists, silently wishing she had her Shuriken. "I will not be going back to the pagoda quietly . . ."

"Fool of a child . . ." Gorky hissed, and then darted forward.

Yuffie was small, standing slightly over five feet in height and weighing an unsurprising hundred pounds. But for what she lacked in physical presence, she made up for with skill as a fighter.

Kicking off of the ground the young ninja jumped straight into the air, her attacker Gorky passing directly below her.

When she hit the ground she darted forward and then quickly grabbed Staniv by the neck and kicked out his legs, sending the lanky man to the earth.

Chekhov seemed hesitant to try and grab her at first, but then took a step in her direction just as she was tackled from behind by Gorky. Seeing her stumbling Chekhov quickly jumped forward, his hands outstretched, but before he knew what was happening he had collided with Gorky.

Yuffie, having slipped out of the man's weak grasp, had dropped to the ground and shimmied under the man's stout legs.

"You little brat!" Gorky said as he pushed aside Chekhov. He then went after her again but was quickly knocked backwards, the girl's foot had met his face before he'd even seen her lift her leg.

Yuffie smiled at her wheezing attackers. "Is this all you guys got?"

Chekhov huffed and charged forward again.

Yuffie waited until the last possible instant, and then, with a smile on her young face, she spun just out of reach, lifting her leg and sending it careening into Chekhov's sweaty neck. The man fell hard and fast, his head hitting the ground with a soft thump.

Staniv had finally gotten back to his feet. The tall man shouted, "Why the resistance, you little bitch? There's nowhere on this island that you can go where we can't find you."

Seconds later Staniv's taunting was silenced when Yuffie bounced in front of him and placed a well-aimed fist into his face.

"He's right," Gorky said, his voice coming from behind her. "There's nowhere for you to go, child . . ."

Yuffie felt her insides twitch and then quickly boil. "I'm not . . ." she started, and then back-flipped towards Gorky before placing an elbow into his stomach, "a child."

Gasping for air, Gorky fell to the ground.

Yuffie looked at the three mostly-unmoving bodies on the ground, knowing that this time she may have gone too far.

_But I wasn't going to just let them take me back to my father . . ._

She looked away from the bodies and then towards the distant ocean.

_I'm still a Kisaragi . . . so there's only so much that they are allowed to do to me. But I think it might be best if I stayed away from Wutai for a while._

She looked over her shoulder at the mammoth Da-Chao and felt the flaring tickle of rage rise up inside her again.

Looking back at the ocean she thought, _I definitely need to get out of here._

She then began her walk towards the water.


	51. 4-5 Fortresses

5. Fortresses

1

As the team exited the mines the overwhelming amount of light from the midday sun seemed blinding, forcing bluish-white sparkles of light into the corners of their vision. The sun was arched high in the sky, so while its brightness was overpowering at the moment, the warmth it provided was graciously accepted and appreciated.

Tifa looked at Cloud and opened her mouth to speak. Before she could, Barret sighed and said, "I wish we still had them damn chocobos."

Cloud agreed, not noticing Tifa. "Yeah, Junon is pretty far west from here."

Knowing that this wasn't the time or the place, Tifa dismissed her plan to talk to Cloud now about their past. Instead, she replied, "Too bad we didn't know that we were just going to have to go to Junon in the first place. It would've taken only a few hours from Midgar."

"Ya think we didn't know that!" Barret shouted.

"It's funny how it all worked out . . ." Aeris said.

Barret was not amused. "Damn! Funny! Ugh! I'm so damn pissed! Shinra makes me so damn angry."

"Anger aside . . . it truly doesn't make any sense," Red 13 said.

Aeris nodded. "Yeah . . . why did Sephiroth head towards Kalm, and then to the Mythril Mines, if his destination was really Junon all along?"

Cloud joked, "Well I'm sure the more we follow Sephiroth's trail the more confusing everything is going to get." He cracked a smile and looked at Tifa.

She didn't return a smile.

"So we head for Junon?" Red 13 posed.

Cloud looked away from Tifa and replied, "Yeah, for Junon."

"You were there before you went back to Nibelheim, right?" Aeris asked.

"Yeah, while I was in SOLDIER."

"What's it like?"

Cloud smiled. "I have no warm feelings anymore for the Shinra, but the Junon Fortress is something you have to see to believe. I've never met anyone, Shinra-friendly or not, who wasn't impressed by Junon."

Red 13 approached Cloud. "How long will it take to reach this impressive fortress?"

Cloud shrugged. "Probably a day."

"Meaning we won't be able to reach Junon by this evening and that we'll have to sleep somewhere in the open?"

Cloud swallowed hard. "Um . . . I suppose so . . ."

"Wonderful . . ."

Barret shook his head, already out of his brief funk. "Don't get so damn grim my furry fellow. I know somewhere that we'll be able to get some sleep tonight that ain't out in the open."

Aeris questioned, "Where?"

"The Fortress of the Condor."

"Another fortress?" Tifa asked. "Are the Shinra there, too?"

"No," the gunarmed man said. "At least they shouldn't be."

Cloud had almost forgotten about the Fortress of the Condor. He remembered asking a few other SOLDIER's about it one day. The only response he'd got from each of them was that it was best not to talk about the Fortress of the Condor. He wondered if Barret knew the story that the Shinra associates were always so reluctant to tell.

Barret continued, "But hey, we've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to get to the fortress any time . . ."

Above him a creature perched on top of the mine's exit shrieked. It was ghostly white with giant, flimsy wings. Its red eyes bulged painfully out of their sockets.

"Holy shit!" Barret screamed, raising his gunarm.

The creature shrieked again, exposing its toothless and rotten mouth. Below its head they could see its extremely thin stomach and legs, both so small that they appeared to be wasting away right in front of their eyes.

Aeris yelled, "Barret! Don't shoot it! It's harmless . . . it can't hurt us." Looking at the thing brought tears to her eyes. This thing didn't ask to be created, it had no choice. The Shinra didn't allow it a choice.

Just before Barret lowered his gunarm Cloud sighed and solemnly said, "Barret . . . shoot it."

"What?" Aeris screamed. "Cloud, it's not going to . . ."

"Aeris," Cloud said, "I'm not going to leave this thing here to starve to death." He paused and then repeated, "Shoot it."

The creature shrieked again and tried desperately to crawl off of the mountainside and down to the team.

Cloud knew that at this state the creature knew nothing except for the extreme hunger it was enduring, but he hoped that somewhere deep inside it understood that they were putting it out of its misery, that they were showing it mercy.

"This thing . . ." Red 13 whispered. "This thing was once . . . human?"

Cloud nodded and slowly placed his hand on the canyon creature's back. He looked towards the large man to his left. "Barret . . . please . . ."

Aeris, Tifa, and Red 13 turned away when Barret opened fire at it. Cloud stood next to Barret without turning away, making sure that he knew that he was also enduring this.

With one last cough the creature's scrawny arms dropped. Almost in slow-motion the monster tumbled off of the mountainside onto the grass where they had been standing. Its giant red eyes gradually rolled back and were still, never to move again.

"Shit . . ." Barret said, his heart still hammering from the initial shock. "Goddamn . . ."

Cloud patted him on the back and said, "Let's go."

They turned around and headed after the others who had continued to walk into the distance.

2

And so, under the hot sun, the team pressed on through the Junon Area. The walk was without much banter, only a few side conservations here and there. They walked at a steady pace and at this point their legs were already holding out longer than their first trip to Kalm.

_I just wish we could go faster,_ Cloud thought.

At each and every moment they were kept on their toes, knowing full-well that there was the possibility of encountering another creature out here in the open. They couldn't afford to pretend that the next creature that they met upon their journey would be nearly as weak as the previous.

Crossing over a small stream Aeris approached Cloud. "I'm sorry about earlier."

He smiled at her and then gave her a quick hug. "Aeris . . . there's no need to say that. I understand." He paused. "Believe me, if I had thought that anyone here wouldn't have understood why I had Barret do what he did, I wouldn't have told him to do so."

She nodded. "I know . . . it was just so sad seeing that thing. At first . . . I didn't understand."

"But now you do?"

"Yes," she said. "Now I do."

Cloud was satisfied with Aeris' response, but now that they were again walking through mostly-empty fields he found his thoughts running wild.

_But maybe that's a good thing,_ he thought. _After all . . . the voice inside my mind said that I really needed to think about my story . . . about Nibelheim._

He still wasn't completely sure why the voice had insisted that he hadn't told his tale correctly . . . perhaps there were a few things that didn't make sense . . . but it was a long time ago, and it had been a very traumatic time.

_At least that's what I keep telling myself . . ._

Cloud shuddered and kept pace with the others, his silence not disguising the torment he felt from his rampant thoughts.

3

As the day pressed on and the sun sank in the sky the team finally saw their destination and the ocean that sat behind it. The Fortress of the Condor was located at the edge of the western point of the Eastern Continent. Farther north along the coast was where they would find Junon the next day.

Looking forward as they approached the fortress they all realized that the structure had seen better days. Sitting on top of the lone hill near the ocean the decaying remains of the building was now almost completely overgrown with weeds and grass. Large pieces of metal appeared to have crashed to the ground around its edges. On the very top of everything sat a ruined Mako reactor.

"It definitely doesn't look like anyone is here," Tifa said as she stared at the wrecked fortress. The team agreed and then entered the remains searching for a place to sleep.

They all agreed that even though it was early that they should try and sleep now. They knew that the earlier they started for Junon the better chance they'd have at arriving there while it was still light out.

When they found a room that had obviously been used for resting they all took separate cots and tried to fall fast asleep.

Each of them realized that they couldn't sleep just yet, but it was only Barret who voiced his anxiousness. "I can't wait to get my hands on Sephiroth . . . and that shithead Rufus."

Cloud sat up. "Believe me . . . I know how you feel."

"We all do," Tifa said.

Cloud looked at her for a second, searching for that same painful expression that he had seen on her earlier. When he didn't see it he looked back at Barret. "Hey, Barret."

"Yeah?"

"What happened here?"

"What do ya mean?"

Cloud looked around the room. "I mean at this fortress. What happened? You said were going to tell us."

"I suppose I did," Barret said, now sitting up as well. "First of all, I'm sure y'all saw that smashed up reactor up top on the way in, right?" They nodded. He continued, "Well, the Shinra built that Planet-killin' machine up there so that they could suck this hill dry. Then they hired some Junon folk to come and oversee it, ya know, make sure nothin' went wrong. Fast-forward a couple years and something did go wrong. A giant golden condor made its nest on the top of the reactor. And when I say giant, I mean GIANT. A true miracle of nature, I guess. So anyways, because of the condor the reactor started malfunctioning, but the people here didn't tell the Shinra cuz they were afraid that the Shinra would just tell them to kill the bird and fix the machine. Eventually the Shinra found out anyways, prolly cuz their profits were decreasing or somethin'. They told the workers to kill the bird. When the workers refused the Shinra told them that by the end of the week they would all be fired. During that week the Junon folk spent hours trying to coax the condor into moving but the bird wouldn't budge. In the middle of the night during that last week Shinra sent SOLDIER in to kill the bird."

"Wow," Cloud said, starting to understand a little better the reason for Shinra's reluctance to talk about the fortress. "So what happened next?"

Barret looked at him. "What do you think happened? They killed the condor and then threw its eggs off of the hill. Then they started rounding up workers and arresting them. Hearing that the Shinra had killed the condor outraged the workers. While some were captured, many escaped. Shinra then built this fortress that we're sitting in right now to ensure the protection of the Mako reactor from any of the people that had escaped. But, as you can see, someone eventually got through."

"Who?" Aeris asked.

"A man by the name of Jacob Bugle, one of the original members of AVALANCHE. He was also Jessie's father. He and a few other members got past the defense and inside of the fortress, which Shinra was now calling the Fortress of the Condor. Jacob and the others set a bomb off in the reactor, destroying it as well as many of the SOLDIER's stationed here. However, they were caught on their way out . . . and died in the explosion along with the rest of them." He paused, clearly thinking about one thing or another. "I met Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie in Midgar with a hatred of Shinra already boiling in my blood. I heard about AVALANCHE from them and knew that meeting them was part of my destiny. Jessie eventually told me about her father, Jacob, and the bombing of the Fortress of the Condor reactor, which is how I got the idea to blow up the first reactor in Midgar. It took a long time to plan out and without a real job we didn't have the funds needed to carry out the mission. That's when I met you," he said, looking at Tifa. He smiled and looked at the rest of the group. "Tifa helped us all out and looked after Marlene when I couldn't be there. In time we had everything calculated out . . . but there was still something missing. We needed someone that knew the Mako reactor inside and out and could also put up a good fight." He turned and looked at Cloud. "And that's where you come in."

Aeris smiled. "I think we got a little more than the story about this fortress." She winked at Barret.

He nodded. "Yeah . . . it felt good though, ya know, talkin' about them again. As long as I keep talking about them the longer their spirits will live on."

Cloud said, "Well then I guess you know what to do. You just have to keep talking about them." He paused and grinned. "And about me, too, Barret. It's always so nice to hear how appreciated my services were."

Barret shook his head. "Watch yourself, white boy."

Cloud laughed. "Just trying to be cute."

"Well . . . you'll need a new face then . . . and you'll definitely need a haircut."

"Ouch . . ." Cloud said, running his fingers through his hair. "Don't bring my hair into this. My face you can joke about all you want but I happen to like my spiky, untamable hair."

"You would . . ."

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "I would."

They both looked at each other and smiled.

Barret said, "Listen, white boy, sorry about the whole 'ugly face' thing . . . even if it's true. You know I didn't mean it . . . I just get all riled up thinkin' 'bout the Shinra."

"Apology accepted," Cloud said. "Now I think it's about time we got some sleep."

They all agreed entirely and tried to get as comfortable as they could on their individual cots.

About a minute or so later, Cloud whispered, "Hey, Barret?"

"Yeah?"

"You know you like my hair."

Barret shook his head. "I take back my apology about your ugly white boy face . . ." They both smiled and smoothed their faces into their pillows.

The team was now ready to sleep, and sleep they did.

4

To those who hadn't had the pleasure of seeing the Junon Fortress before, seeing it for the first time was always the most memorable. At first it seems as if you have stepped out of reality because the colossal military base is something that can't be found anywhere else on the entire Planet. It is massive and daunting, mammoth and impressive.

This was what Cloud and the others were now viewing after there long shoreline travel from the Fortress of the Condor. They had started an hour or so before the sun came up and had covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

Cloud himself had wanted to leave earlier and get to the town as fast as possible, although he wasn't quite sure why.

With the exception of Cloud and Barret, who had seen the base before but were still impressed nonetheless, the team gaped wide-mouthed as they came closer and closer to the gigantic structure half built into the side of a mountain.

On this one base consisted an entire city with roads, numerous buildings, houses and apartments, shops, a unique variety of transportation, stories upon stories of offices and work areas for the designated Shinra employees, elevator systems, airports with huge airships, and training grounds for the thousands of stationed soldiers living on the base. But what caught the eye of any newcomer was not any of these magnificent things. What caught the eye of a newcomer was the quarter-mile long cannon that stuck out of Junon's base over the dark blue ocean. Large enough for a city block's worth of houses to be built inside of it, the cannon was the biggest weapon built on the Planet. It had the power to destroy entire villages with a single pulse-pounding shot of Mako energy - not that there had been a need for such devastation since the cannon's initial completion.

Tifa's eyes were fixed on the base as it grew larger and larger the closer they got to it. "You weren't kidding when you said it was impressive." She looked out at the massive cannon that stood perpendicular to the shoreline. "You weren't kidding at all . . ."

5

Where Cloud and the others entered Junon however was not up to par with the immense military base beside it. This quiet little parochial town, only a fraction of the size of the base, was located along the harbor, right at the water's edge. If it had not had such a pleasant view of the ocean you could have easily noted the similarities of this little town to something that you would find in the slums of Midgar. All of the small, withered houses, though intact, were equally stripped away of their color from the constant pressure of the sea-salted wind.

Aeris almost felt comforted by the slum-like surroundings, for it reminded her of home. Even the town's lighting reminded her of Midgar, for the majority of the Junon settlement was completely in the shade for most of the day because of the giant fortress sitting next to it.

Tifa stepped forward. "What happened to this town? It's so run-down . . ."

As the team lingered a group of people started to form in front of them. Some begged for gil while others asked them a variety of questions.

"Who are you people? Where did you come from?" someone shouted.

"Have you seen the girl? Is that why you're here?" another voice asked.

A woman walked straight up to the team. She had a plump face and dirty brown hair. She said, "Wow, now this is rare. We almost never have anyone other than the Shinra people visit this town."

"Ask 'em if they know anything about poor Priscilla!" a voice from the back of the crowd yelled.

"No!" another said. "What if they're from the Shinra!?"

Barret stepped forward, his head shaking. "We ain't from the Shinra. You don't got to worry about that . . ."

"Well . . . that's something then," the plump woman said.

A man shouted from behind her, "I hate the damn Shinra! Ever since they built that city up above during the war there ain't been no fish in the water! Shit! It got so damn polluted . . ."

Cloud looked over the crowd. "What kind of place is this? And what's this about a girl?" No one responded. Blankly they stared back at him, their stream of questions ceased. Cloud figured he'd try something else. "Has anyone here seen a man with a black cape? A man with a black cape and a sword, perhaps?"

The crowd gave him a few odd looks before dissipating, a variation of disappointed looks on most of their faces.

An old man with a wrinkled fishing hat in his hands said, "Hmm . . . never seen that feller before, and the way news travels 'round this place I would know if someone else had."

"But what about this girl, Priscilla?" Aeris asked.

The man frowned. "Well . . . um . . . I'm not sure I'm the man to talk to you all 'bout that."

Red 13 broke his daylong silence and said, "Look, over there, there appears to be some sort of elevator device."

The team looked down the dirt road between the houses. The elevator was built into the side of a cliff. When Cloud started to walk over to it the old man stopped him and said, "Hey now. That's Shinra, Inc.'s elevator. No one but the Shinra can use it."

"Oh, alright," Cloud said, and the team quickly turned away from the elevator and the sole Shinra guard stationed beside it.

"Well, if that's true," Aeris said, "then Sephiroth wouldn't have been able to use it, right?"

Cloud answered, "I'm not sure, Aeris. One thing you have to remember about Sephiroth is that he's a deceiver. I don't know if I will ever understand what he can or can't do."

Aeris sighed. "I'll keep that in mind. For now I need to go lie down, I'm not feeling so good. Try and find out what you can about the girl . . . the people in the crowd . . . they all looked so worried . . ."

Red 13 thought it best to accompany Aeris, so when the duo left it was just the three of them standing in the street, onlookers in sight everywhere that they looked. Cloud, Barret, and Tifa took the moment to try and figure out what was going on with the small, shoreline town.

6

Their questions led them down to the polluted beach of Junon, only a short walk from the town. The waves crashed and receded from the seashore continuously. And even though the beach was badly polluted, with a wide assortment of garbage scattered throughout the sullied sand, the sight of the ocean relaxed the team a bit.

What they'd found out from the people in town that were willing to talk with them was that a young girl had gone missing two days earlier.

The girl had apparently gone down to the beach to look for dolphins, but there had been no sign of her to be found. The townsfolk had spent the next day searching everything except the beach, but the girl still could not be found.

"It's nice down here," Barret said, looking into the crashing waves. "Even with the pollution . . . there's something about the ocean that's always agreed with me."

"But I thought your hometown, Corel, was a dry place . . . almost desert-like," Cloud said.

Barret shrugged. "Probably why I enjoy the water . . . there was always a lack of it when I was growing up."

"Yeah," Cloud said. "I guess I understand what you mean."

They walked up the beach for a few minutes, silent, just watching and listening to the waves.

"She's down here, you know . . ." Tifa suddenly said.

"What?" Cloud and Barret both shouted.

Tifa looked away from the water and towards the men. "Can't you feel it? It just feels right . . ."

Cloud was about to disagree when he felt a strange tug in his stomach. He'd felt nothing until just a second ago. He stared hard at Tifa, amazed that they could both be feeling this strange bit of intuition.

"Maybe you're right," he said.

"Just what the hell is going on?" Barret asked.

"I don't know, Barret," Cloud said. "But she's right . . . I feel something, too . . ." He paused. "It feels . . ."

Cloud didn't finish, but his mind was whirling.

_It feels like Sephiroth has been here . . ._

He closed his eyes, not completely sure what he was doing.

Before long his eyes opened and he was running.

"Yo, Cloud!" Barret yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"

Cloud ignored him and continued to run down the beach until he came to an angular rock formation adjacent to the cliff the fortress had been built into.

Unaware that he was opening his mouth, he suddenly said, "Priscilla . . ." There was another brief pause. By now Barret and Tifa had caught up to him and were watching him with weary eyes. Cloud continued, "Priscilla . . . come out . . . everything's okay . . ."

"What the hell are you . . .?" Barret began, but then was silenced by the sight of a young girl.

Seemingly out of nowhere the girl crawled out from a large crack in the rock formation, her eyes barely open, her body rigid, her moving feet barely lifting off of the ground with each tiny step that she took.

Barret was stunned. "Cloud . . . how . . . what . . .?"

Cloud could barely believe it himself.

"_Very good,_" a voice suddenly spoke up. "_You're doing well . . ._"

Cloud winced, hearing the genderless voice in his head. This was the first time he'd heard it while being awake.

"I'm doing well?" he said aloud, causing Tifa and Barret to exchange curious glances.

"_Yes,_" the voice responded. "_Very well, indeed . . ._"

An instant later the voice was gone and Cloud was staring at the young girl in front of him.

"Cloud, are you okay?" Tifa asked.

Cloud waved her off and bent to the ground, his Mako-drenched eyes even with the young girl's bemused eyes.

"Why did you come here, Priscilla?" he asked.

The girl responded, "I wanted to see the dolphins . . ." She spoke slow and with no emotion.

"And what happened after you got to the beach?"

Priscilla answered, "There was a man . . . a man dressed all in black . . ."

Cloud took a second to look at Tifa and Barret.

The young girl, maybe twelve years of age, continued, "He told me to hide . . . he told me not to come out until . . ." She lifted her arm and pointed her small finger at Cloud. ". . . Until _you_ told me to come out . . ."

"This doesn't make any sense . . ." Tifa said.

"Damn right," Barret agreed.

"Why?" Cloud asked the girl. "Why would he tell you to wait for me?"

The girl was unmoving, her voice still distant. "Because you'd come faster if I was in trouble . . . he said you're taking way too long. He said you have to hurry up if you want to be in time for the Reunion . . ."

"The Reunion?" Cloud asked, and then remembered the strange urge he'd felt early that morning, the urge to race towards Junon.

"Too slow . . ." the girl said, and then her voice began to change, to lower in pitch, to quaver, to tremble. "Too long . . . too slow . . . taking too long . . ."

Without warning the girl dropped to the sand.

Cloud and the others exchanged looks, unsure what would happen next.

_I'm taking too long? _Cloud thought. _I have to be in time for the Reunion?_

He couldn't dwell on these thoughts too long, however, because the young girl was suddenly on her feet, a look of horror on her face.

"Who are you guys? What do you want from me? Are you members of the Shinra, Inc.?"

Barret shook his head, baffled, but tried to smile at the frightened girl. "No no no, darling! You got it all wrong." He paused and looked at the others, hoping he was saying the right things. "We're actually fightin' the Shinra if you really wanna know."

The girl's still frightened face wavered and looked at Cloud.

"That's how it is," the ex-SOLDIER said, trying to reassure her.

"I don't believe you!" she screamed before plunging into the nearby water. Wildly she swam away from them. "Mr. Dolphin, help!" She swam and swam, seriously fearing for her life from the team.

They didn't know what to think of it, but then they saw something horrifying. A giant wave was rushing in quickly, heading straight for the girl.

Tifa screamed, "Priscilla! Come back! We promise we're not from the Shinra!"

The wave came faster and faster. But before Priscilla could make up her mind whether or not to swim back to the shore, the wave slammed down on her fragile body. The force of the blow silenced her and forced her under the cold, salty water.

Cloud looked at Barret and Tifa, took a deep breath, and then dove into the water after Priscilla. Chilled by the cold ocean water he frantically felt around for the girl. With luck his leg stumbled over her unconscious body about eighteen feet out.

"Damn . . . that could have been bad," he said as he picked up her freezing body.

Carrying her back to the beach Cloud saw an old man running towards them. He screamed, "Leave her alone! Put her down! What have you done with my Priscilla!?"

Cloud carefully laid her body down onto the sand. Looking at Barret and Tifa he said, "This is bad. You don't think she's dead, do you?"

"No," Barret said. "She can't be . . ." He paused and looked at Cloud, aware of the old man running up behind the team. "Cloud . . . what the hell happened back there?"

Cloud didn't have time to answer, and wouldn't have been able to answer anyways.

The man finally reached them. Distressed and looking at Priscilla he screamed, "Priscilla!" He leaned over, putting his ear to her chest. "Thank goodness, she's breathing!" He looked up at Cloud. "What did you do?"

"Listen, man, I saved her!"

The man stared back and forth between Cloud and Priscilla. "You saved her . . . what happened?"

"I found her . . ." Cloud replied, but then felt a wave of nausea ripple through him. "I found . . ." he mumbled, feeling dizzy.

"Cloud, is everything okay?" Tifa asked.

Cloud tried to nod, but he'd lost control of his body. "Tifa . . ." he strained, and then fell towards the sand.

7

Tifa and Barret let Cloud lie on the beach for half an hour before reluctantly picking him up and carrying him back towards the settlement. Not to their surprise a crowd of people was yet again gathered in the streets. This time it seemed that they were mostly surrounding one house, which both of them guessed to be Priscilla's.

"News really does travel fast here," Barret said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aeris approaching them.

Aeris took another look at the crowd of people and then at Cloud's unconscious form and asked, "Barret . . . Tifa, what the heck happened?"

Rubbing his eyes, Barret replied, "Long story."

Before he could tell her what had happened the woman they had seen earlier with the plump face walked up to them. "Excuse me, sir," she said to Barret, who was still cradling Cloud in his massive arms. "If you aren't movin' on . . . I mean, if you need a place to stay . . . well, what I'm tryin' to say is that you and your friends can come to my house for a while and get some rest if that's what you all are lookin' for." She paused and then continued, "I heard what happened. You've done so much for Priscilla."

With only a short glance they each silently agreed to get some rest at the woman's house.

She led them to a small house near the entrance to the town. Once inside Barret immediately walked over and laid Cloud down on one of the beds. "Thank you, M'am," he said, and then walked back out of the room.

Aeris was about to follow Barret out when she saw Tifa and said, "Tifa, I think you should stick around just in case Cloud needs something when he wakes up." She paused. "Actually . . . you look a little tired yourself."

Tifa nodded, and then sat down on a nearby chair. "I'm a little sleepy, but I don't think I'll be able to get any sleep right now."

"Okay," Aeris said, giving Tifa a peculiar look. "I'm going to go out to the living room. I want to hear what Barret has to say about all of this . . ." Before she left she looked back at Tifa and said, "Gee . . . it's always a big scene with him, huh?"

Tifa nodded.

The woman whose house they were in appeared in the doorway. "You must be tired, too, dear. Those big, brown eyes of yours look like they're about to shut on their own. Get some rest, and make yourselves at home. I'll be here if he wakes up and needs anything." With a soft smile she left the room.

Tifa thanked her and then turned back to Cloud.

_We need to talk, Cloud, just you and me . . ._

She sighed.

_But not yet . . . not for a while, I think._

She stood up out of the chair and then walked to the bed. She took a breath and then curled up beside the ex-SOLDIER. After grasping his hand she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	52. 4-6 Recalculations

6. Recalculations

1

When President Rufus Shinra woke in his small, luxurious loft on the 70th floor of the Shinra Building, his neck stiff from the awkward position that he'd fallen asleep in, he realized that he knew two things.

The first thing he knew was that he was covered in a thick film of sweat, his chest and arms slick with oily grime.

The second thing he knew was that there was a reason he was covered in sweat – a reason he was just now trying to puzzle out.

"What's happened to me?" he whispered, his thin voice made louder by the metal walls.

He hadn't had a nightmare – that was not what was frightening him – what had happened at some ungodly hour of the night was more like waking up from a nightmare, except that he hadn't awakened.

But now, sitting up in his bed, his legs still half-covered with a Shinra-logoed sheet, he understood that something had definitely happened.

_But nothing has happened, _he thought to himself.

Although that wasn't quite true, and he knew it right away.

Despite the knowledge that he'd fallen asleep in his bed and had woke up in his bed he knew without a doubt that something within himself had been awakened.

He closed his eyes, searching for the answer to a feeling that he didn't understand, and surprisingly found the answer swimming close to the surface of his thoughts.

_I feel . . . normal . . . _

At first he didn't know what he'd meant by that, but after a moment a horrifying realization washed over him.

_If I feel 'normal' now . . . then how was I feeling before? _

He found himself shuddering despite the sweat on his pale body. The electrical feeling of pins-and-needles had entered his feet and was slowly crawling up into his legs. In spite of this he stayed motionless, his mind the only component of himself exploiting any energy.

"Oh my . . ." he said, his voice slight yet powerful.

The last few weeks of his life were slowly focusing in front of his mind's eye.

_No, _he thought, _not focusing. Refocusing . . . _

But instead of simply remembering the events that had taken place, he found that he was only now discovering the events themselves.

_I'm awakening to them . . . _he thought, and then shuddered again. _What the hell have I been doing? Why was I acting the way that I was? _

These thoughts came after the awakening of the multiple occasions he'd reinforced his 'abandon-everything-except-Sephiroth' plan to the workers he saw on a day-to-day basis.

He was dumbfounded.

_Why would I do such a thing? _

But then another thought came to him.

_There was more . . . _

And there _was _more, he knew that. While he'd been telling every worker in the building – Heideggar and the Turks included – to put all of their efforts on finding Sephiroth, he'd also planned something on his own that involved dealing with the rebels of AVALANCHE.

_I talked to Reeve . . . I forced him. I took his weakness and exploited it. I needed to make sure that he alone knew my plan . . . just in case . . . _

He rubbed his clammy hands together and then swept them through his thick hair.

_But why would I do that? _

He tried to think back to the day that he'd actually talked to Reeve, and while at first he couldn't think of the timeframe, he suddenly remembered defiling the city woman and pushing her out of a window.

Warm feelings flooded his body, and he felt a little better regardless of his confusing situation.

_What was her idiot husband's name? _he asked himself. _Klark? Kline? Krum? _

And then he had it.

_Krane . . . _

He remembered the former employee's name but now he wasn't quite sure why it mattered.

_Was that the last day that I've truly gotten to have any fun? Is that why I was thinking clearly . . . at least more so . . . that day? _

This answer felt right, but at the same time he knew that a section of the answer was still eluding him. Whether or not he was enjoying his life in a particular fashion was no excuse for the zoned out way he'd felt.

_At least, that's how I assume that I felt . . . _

There had to be something else there. He was determined to assure himself that he wasn't crazy.

He sat on his bed, still motionless, and roughly ten minutes ticked by in silence before he felt a quivering tickle in his brain.

_What is it? _he asked himself, straining his cloudy mind to reveal what was hidden.

He kept his eyes closed and found himself physically tense as he tried to force the image to the surface of his mind.

_It's . . . it's . . . _

He felt new droplets of sweat beading on his arm, and he had a sudden fear that he was going to hurt himself if he kept this up. But then the image came forward, and he relaxed, letting his heart slow its frantic beating.

_It's my father? _

The image in his head was of his father, the old man's face was flushed, his angry eyes were opened wide.

'You bastard . . .' he heard his father say.

'That's right,' he remembered himself saying, a satisfactory grin on his face. 'You were never a father to me . . . so I really am a bastard, aren't I?'

He then remembered – or perhaps, felt – himself raising his fist to strike the old man in front of him. But instead of striking down on the fat face in front of him, he was instead struck down himself.

He mind suddenly felt on fire, every inch of his brain sizzling with a ferocious intensity of static.

He knew that he had blacked out after being hit, although he had seen two black boots and the end of a long, thin sword. But now, as he remembered this monumental event – a reawakened remembrance – he could see Sephiroth.

There he was . . . just feet away from him, mumbling something to his trembling father.

He couldn't hear what Felix Shinra was saying, but the frightful look on the old man's face was pleasing enough despite the presence of the mighty Sephiroth.

With a quick, fluid motion Sephiroth darted forward, using his left hand to push the former President's face into his desk. After his father's face was firmly touching the desk, Rufus watched Sephiroth use his other hand to thrust his long sword into the back of the former President, instantly forcing away his life.

Rufus once again found himself overcome with a glorifying sensation of glee – he was actually getting to watch his miserable father die.

But then the cat-like Mako-drenched eyes of Sephiroth turned back towards him, one of his hands outstretched in front of him, and although he couldn't hear what the silver-haired legend was saying, Rufus knew that it wasn't anything good for him.

Before long the air seemed to peel away from Sephiroth's outstretched hand, and a canary yellow light appeared in his palm.

Even as Rufus watched this he noticed Sephiroth's other hand dangling at his side. There appeared to be something on his hand – _a number? _

Rufus couldn't tell, and didn't have time to examine for much longer anyways.

The black-caped man's eyes widened, the yellow light flashed out from his hand, and Rufus again felt himself overcome with blackness.

The darkness swiftly cleared and Rufus once again found himself sitting on his bed, the fateful memory receding into the basement of his mind.

_Sephiroth . . . did something to me? _

He couldn't be sure what had happened, even if he was positive that Sephiroth had used some sort of yellow materia orb on him.

The real question was why - because what had it _really _accomplished?

If anything, during the weeks that he hadn't been completely under his own control, he had felt the desire to go after Sephiroth more than anything else.

Why would the black-caped man have wanted that to happen?

_To cause a disturbance within Shinra, Inc.? To keep me away from the rebels?_

Rufus couldn't be sure of the reason, but it seemed likely that the only reason he'd gotten out of the prolonged trance's reach the day he'd talked to Reeve was because of the elevated sensations he had felt as he raped and murdered the Krane man's wife, and had then proceeded to kill Krane and his two son's.

_But is that the whole truth? _

Once again, he knew that it felt right, but that there was still something missing, something eluding his probing questions.

One major truth that he certainly did know was that he needed to talk to Heideggar, and fast. He needed to get all of this sorted out and get a team searching for AVALANCHE as soon as possible. He'd still have others searching for Sephiroth, but it was important right now to get the full cooperation of his enter empire.

_And besides, _he thought, _I certainly wouldn't mind choking the life out of that yellow-haired boy . . . the ex-SOLDIER. _

Rufus got out of his bed, his bizarre situation resolved enough to act upon, and made his way to the phone.

2

"Hooray!" Marlene shouted when Choco Bill finished the strangely cheery song he had been singing to the marigold chocobos.

Elmyra, her hand fastened to Marlene's, said, "That was very . . . nice, Mr. Driggs."

Bill rolled his eyes. "It's been how long now? And you're still calling me that?" He eyed Elmyra until she glanced over at him and blushed. The farmer continued, "The name's Bill . . . and someone as pretty as yourself can call me Billy."

Elmyra flushed and heard Marlene tittering beside her.

For over a week now the farmer had been saying things like this, and even the child was catching on to his act.

She looked down at Marlene and saw the girl staring at the barn, just as she had every other time that they came out to visit the chocobos.

A handful of days ago the young girl had come running back into the house, screaming her head off, proclaiming that she'd seen another monster.

Bill – certainly not Billy at this point, at least to her – had assured her and the girl that Marlene had only seen a canyon creature that had been passing through with a ragtag group of travelers. Elmyra hadn't been under the impression that any canyon creatures still existed, but Bill had been anything but misleading thus far, so she took him for his word.

This, of course, did not settle Marlene down, who refused to leave the farmhouse without one of the adults firmly attached to one of her small hands.

Elmyra looked up from Marlene and over to the farmer. "Well . . . Bill . . . the song was very nice."

He winked at her, and when he smiled she saw the delightful crinkle of crow's feet on the outside corners of his eyes. She'd known lots of women who looked down upon that particularly-worn feature on a man's face, but she herself thought it made men quite handsome.

Not that she thought this fool of a farmer was handsome . . .

Perhaps he was fine-looking, in a weather-beaten sort of way, his skin tan, his hair a tad longer than an average man's.

_But not handsome . . . well maybe . . . _

His voice interrupted her thoughts. "It does me fine to hear you give me such praise."

Elmyra again felt herself flush.

She didn't quite know how to respond to that, but was saved when Marlene shouted, "Sing it again! Please?"

Bill smiled, and Elmyra felt grateful that the farmer didn't tire of the young girl's endless energy and enthusiasm.

The farmer looked at the young girl, her face full of happiness and ease, and then back to Elmyra. "How 'bout it? Would y'all like to hear an encore from Choco Bill Driggs?"

Raising one of her hands into the air, Marlene shouted, "Sing it, Billy!"

Elmyra laughed, something she'd been doing more of these days in the serenity of the Chocobo Farm. She looked at Bill and said, "I guess you better do as the girl says . . ." She allowed herself a small smile, but almost regretted it when she saw the effect it had on the farmer.

"With pleasure," he said, tipping his head slightly in a mock-bow.

After audibly clearing his throat the farmer sang:

_When I heard the bird's cries_

_I soon realized_

_That something just was not right_

_So while she tossed and squirmed_

_I tossed and turned_

_Sleep was lost on me that night_

_I looked in her eyes_

_Saw pain and surprise_

_What could be oh-so wrong_

_So while she rocked and swayed_

_I rocked and stayed_

_With my bird all the night long_

_When the sun graced the skies_

_I soon realized_

_My bird still wasn't feeling swell_

_So while she was silent and stilled_

_I was silent and filled_

_With feelings that are too hard to tell_

_I cried all the day_

_There's nothing more to say_

_All I could do was mope_

_So while she shivered and shook_

_I shivered and took_

_To feeling that there was no hope_

_But then I heard her cough_

_So I ran to the loft_

_Perhaps it was only old age_

_And she said, 'I'm not a bird_

_You stupid, old turd_

_Now get me out of this cage!'_

_My eyesight was bad_

_But I was overly glad_

_Everything was going to be fine_

_But my wife was not pleased_

_I'd lost our pet bird, you see_

_And its cage was soon to be mine_

"Hooray!" Marlene again shouted when Bill ceased his boisterous singing.

Elmyra smiled, although she wasn't exactly thrilled about the subject matter of the song. "Yes. Very nice, Mr. . ." She paused. "Very nice, Bill."

The trio walked back inside the farmhouse and made their way into the kitchen. With breakfast having been served over four hours ago they were now ready for some lunch.

While Bill whipped some sandwiches together – and he insisted, 'By all means, M'am, I'll do it myself' – Elmyra found her thoughts drifting back on her late husband, who had died so many years ago.

_What would he think about me spending time with this farmer man? _

She mentally shrugged, knowing that this wasn't anything serious anyways. Bill just had a pleasant personality. And since Aeris had entered her life she rarely had had a chance to be around men that were her own age.

_There's also the simple fact that he saved my life as well as the child's. And that he's been letting us stay here free of charge. _

She glanced up at the farmer.

_But maybe . . . _

"Normally," Bill said, his eyes still on the various piles of meat that he was dicing, "I'd have enough to eat here until the end of the season. But . . ."

Elmyra cut him off. "I know what you're going to say and I'm sorry. If you need any help with the . . ."

Now it was Choco Bill's turn to interrupt her. "Whoa! Hey now, cowgirl, take it easy! I wasn't saying nothing about gil or anything of that sort. If anything you two have been the best thing to happen to me in years." He winked. "Two of the cutest faces I've ever seen."

Marlene smiled. "Thank you, Billy."

Bill returned the smile and then continued, "All that I'm saying is that I'm going to have to take a trip into one of the towns to get some food and supplies. The chocobo greens are getting a bit low as well."

"Oh," Elmyra said. "I see . . ."

Only now did she realize the extent that the easygoing tranquility of the Chocobo Farm had pushed away all of her other thoughts and concerns. Bill hadn't even questioned her much about the situation that her and the girl had been in. He and his land had simply accepted them with open arms.

She hadn't forgotten about the monster attack, about poor Johnny, and of course about little Marlene's father.

And there was no way that she'd ever be able to forget about her angel, Aeris.

But the painful memories had been pushed aside for a time, and as much as she was grateful for that, the sudden thought of leaving the farm seemed excessively daunting.

"Elmyra?" Bill said, and when she looked up at him she understood that this wasn't the first time he'd been trying to snap her out of the momentary daze. "Elmyra? Are you okay? Is everything alright?"

She quickly smiled and replied, "Yes. Yes, of course. I just got caught up in an old memory."

"You two can come with me, of course," Bill said, still eyeing her with more concern than she deemed necessary.

She nodded. "Where do you usually get your supplies?"

"There's not much between here and Kalm, unless we try and make our way through the mines. Teg doesn't have much to offer so I usually just trade within Kalm."

Elmyra sighed. This was the answer that she was afraid of.

She still could hear Johnny in her head, telling them that Kalm would be the first place that the Shinra would look for them.

She took a quick look at Marlene and then met Bill's old, denim-blue eyes. "Does it have to be Kalm?"

The farmer's brow wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

Elmyra took a breath. "I mean . . . is Kalm the only settlement that you can trade in?"

After a moment Bill shrugged and shook his head. "No . . . it's a fair distance farther, but I could find most of what I need in Cardia." He paused. "That's actually where I was headin' before I saw y'all in trouble. They've got a special kind of green that some of the more stubborn chocobos like."

"You're sure that that would be fine?" Elmyra questioned, searching the man's eyes for honesty.

Bill smiled, and the expression on his face was as genuine as his answer. "That wouldn't be a problem at all." He reached down and took Elmyra's hand. "And besides . . . this wouldn't have to happen for a few days yet . . . maybe even a week or two depending on how much little Marlene eats on us!"

The subject of the conversation glanced up from the empty plate in front of her, a wry smile on her small face. "I would _love _to be eating _now_, Billy." She followed this statement by lightly stomping her foot on the floor.

Bill raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry, Princess Marlene. I'll get you your sandwich right away!"

Elmyra smiled, and noticed that the smile was steady on her face even after Bill turned and winked at her.

3

President Rufus had finally finished talking with Heideggar, and was an instant away from disconnecting the call when he remembered something else.

"Alrik . . . you still there?"

"Yes, sir?" the gruff voice on the other end of the line said.

"Get a hold of Reeve," Rufus said.

There was a moment of silence before Heideggar asked, "What do you need with that scumbag?"

Rufus rolled his eyes. "It's none of you concern . . . just find him and send him to me as soon as possible."

Before Heideggar could respond Rufus disconnected the call.

He was going to put the past couple of weeks behind him, regardless of the lack of resolution.

He turned away from the phone and made his way to his father's old desk.

_It's time to get to work . . ._


End file.
